In 1850 only 10% of people could read. Today, 84% can read.
Peak oil was wrong. We actually have a lot more oil than we thought. This gives us more time to wean ourselves off of it.
Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation polio has nearly been eradicated.
Universal basic income is being trialed in some countries (Switzerland, Finland, Canada)
Burma recently had its first democratically elected prime minister in more than 50 years
Between 2000 and 2015 nearly all of the United Nation’s millennium goals were met (only the environmental goals weren’t reached). These goals covered everything from decreasing hunger and disease to preventing war and violence.
In 2000 there were 839,000 deaths due to malaria. In 2015 the number of deaths was 438,000
Emergency medical systems are becoming more and more accessible to a greater number of people every single year.
Google fiber is expanding to more and more cities. Soon we will all have lightning fast internet.
The US unemployment rate is only 4.9% and that is only improving. It is one of the lowest in the world. Also, wages are rising and in spite of the recent economic recessions the world economy as a whole is expanding and moving forward.
Note: the US economy has been doing really well for quite some time now. We say this just to point out that electing a new president had nothing to do with it.
Murder rates in the United States are significantly lower than they were in the 80s and 90s
This fact alone is enough cause for a celebration. But there is more. Keep on reading!
Renewable energy sources are increasing. In Germany in 2000 only 6% of energy sources were renewable. In 2015, 33% were renewable
More children in the world have access to information and thus education than ever before thanks to the rapid spread of the internet
There is now a vaccine for dengue fever which recently passed its first human trial with a 100% success rate
The Netherlands had to close some prisons because they didn’t have enough prisoners to lock up
Wars are far less violent than they used to be. Just to give some perspective, more American lives were lost during the Civil War than all of America’s other wars combined.
Child mortality rates are lower than they have ever been in human history
In 2015 Nigeria had a democratic election that was won by an opposition candidate. This is the first time that an incumbent has lost re-election in Nigeria. The election has been praised as a “turning a new leaf” for Africa.
Rwanda, one of Africa’s worst tragedies, has been improving rapidly over the last 20 years since the genocide. It has even been touted as an economic and political miracle
Birth rates are expected to stabilize and the world population is predicted to level out at 10 billion people
With new drugs and treatments, cancer is becoming less of a death sentence every year
Violent crime is down all over the world
Poverty rates have declined rapidly
The world wide average life expectancy has gone up by 6 years
The Ozone layer is actually repairing itself
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