- snitzoid
Have things grown worse in our lifetime? The world going to sh-t? A few charts tell the real tale.
Yah, I get it. Capitalism sucks, life's unfair...we'd all be better off living under Lenin? The rich get richer and the little people live like insects.
Wait a minute, where do you get off presenting some facts on this? I didn't ask for this. This doesn't match my narrative...you're racist aren't you?
In 1800 just about everybody lived in poverty.
Fast forward two centuries and most people still live in poverty, although not so much in Europe and the Americas. The Western world is doing much better.
By 2015 most folks are not living in poverty, even in Africa. There's a ton of room for improvement but things having become much much better.
During this time the West (in particular the US) have left everyone else behind in terms of GDP per capita.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/visualizing-global-income-distribution-over-200-years/
Snitz comment: Many behavioral economists have recently documented "negatively bias". The term first coined by Paul Rozin and Ed Poyzman explains why people pay closer attention and are more influenced by bad news that good. That's why newsmen say "if it bleeds it leads" and the news is dominated by "bad stuff". Why? Because bad news is more engaging, grabs attention and garners a larger audience to sell to.
Ergo, things aren't nearly as bad as the media tell you. Want to check out some of the best non-biased research on how good things are going or aren't. You might want to check out the book Enlightenment Now by the Harvard Economist/Social Scientist Steven Pinker. Not only did I love the book, but Bill Gates called it the best thing he's read in the past 10 years.