Over the past year, many rational people have become glum about the state of the world, as a number of startling events has led them to wonder if modern civilization is starting to circle the drain.
However, much of this pessimism is rooted in the mass media’s inclination to push negative narratives for ratings, as humans tend to be taken in by bad news far more readily than good news.
John Bradberry Charlotte NC is a natural born optimist, as he chooses to see what’s right with the world rather than what’s wrong.
It’s not that he doesn’t think there are problems; rather, he believes by acknowledging the fact progress has been made, it becomes easier to work on the remaining issues that plague us.
Below, we’ll go over a few reasons why we believe this world is headed for sunnier days, despite the occasional bout of rain.
1) The world has never been more peaceful
Of all the assertions in this article, this one is perhaps the most contentious. After all, turning on cable news exposes you to a steady dose of war, terror attacks, and heinous murders.
When you turn off the tube and pay attention to the facts, though, you’ll find they paint a very different picture.
For example, there are fewer armed conflicts going on now than at any point in human history, the number of casualties attributed to terrorist acts has been decreasing since 9/11, and violent crime has been on a steady downtrend since the 1980s.
If you travel, talk to a backpacker who ventured around the world 30+ years ago. You’ll hear about the constant complications faced trying to worm their way around hot war zones.
Today, travelers can hopscotch from one country to the next, only worrying about getting hustled by slick scam artists.
2) Hunger has never been less of a problem than it is now
Everybody in the 1980s remembers the food shortages that plagued the Horn of Africa. At that time, one billion on a planet with five billion people were malnourished.
It was a dark time, but thanks to emergency food aid and initiatives that focused on improving yields on small farms, things got a lot better.
Today, 200 million fewer people are hungry – this may not sound like much progress at first glance, but when you consider that the world is home to seven billion people in 2017, it’s clear we have come a long way in a generation.
3) Abject poverty may be a thing of the past soon
Many ills in our society can be traced to one root cause – the lack of sufficient funds to purchase the necessities of life.
Abject poverty drives everything from poor health outcomes to crimes of necessity and passion, making its elimination in the 21st century a top priority of many governmental bodies.
Thanks to the globalization of trade and dramatic increases in foreign aid compared to a century ago, we have gone from 68% of the world making less than $1.25/day in 1900 to 17% in 2012.
The imminent rise of automation and artificial intelligence appears to be threatening these gains, but the implementation of initiatives like Universal Basic Income may actually eradicate all forms of poverty around the world as the 21st century unfolds.