Actually, I think it's a great time to be alive
Sometimes, it's easy to forget that despite the world's problems, the chances are we would all much rather be alive now than in times past.
Why? Here's 5 reasons:
- Global life expectancy is approximately 73.66 years, compared to medieval England (c.30–35 years), or even the year 1900 (c.31 years globally). Even since the year 2000 there have been huge gains, with maternal deaths dropping over 40% between 2000 and 2023, and child deaths under the age of 5 more than halving. And that's despite COVID-19 and cuts to aid budgets. So a child born today has much better odds of reaching adulthood than at any prior point in history. We forget this in WEIRD societies sometimes.
- Violence is historically low with a person in England today having roughly 1/50th the chance of being murdered compared to the Middle Ages. State-sanctioned slavery is abolished everywhere, and judicial torture and debtors' prisons are largely gone. Even accounting for recent conflicts, the world is a less violent and dangerous place.
- Clean energy is surging and for the first time in history, last year renewables overtook coal as the world's largest electricity source. Nearly 50% of global electricity capacity is now renewable meaning we are actually living through an energy transition rather than just talking about it.
- Accumulated human knowledge is available to everyone, with more information in our pocket than was held in the Library of Alexandria. We have powerful technologies and much of the world knowledge available to us at all times, largely regardless of wealth.
- Extreme poverty is decreasing around the world. While we still have around 10.1% of the global population living in extreme poverty, that compares to a figure of 36% in 1990. Billions of people have been lifted out of material deprivation within my lifetime, which is incredible.
Perhaps I'm just feeling optimistic this morning, but I think a lot of the problems we see around the world are the death rattles of a dying system. The one that comes in its place is likely to be greener, more equitable, and less patriarchal than the last.
Source: Are.na block · Vibes channel