208. The Progress of the Human Race, Part 1

All we ever hear about on the mainstream news is that the world is in dire straights, that we are going in an irreversible direction, and that it is all our fault. Throughout many conversations in Season 4 of this podcast, we have explored these narratives in depth. We would like to promote an alternative narrative...

Did you know that in 1981, 42% of the world’s population was living in what is called “absolute poverty” and by 2018, that number had fallen to 8.1%? By 2030, we are on pace to have less than 5% of the world’s population living in poverty. 

Are you aware that alongside nearly eradicating poverty, we have also nearly ended world hunger? Over the last 50 years, we have added nearly 1,000 calories per day to the world food supply average. The world’s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa, has roughly the same access to food as Portugal did in the 1960s. As of the last survey in 2017, only 2 out of 173 nations in the world have food access averages under 2,000 calories per day. 

We have also drastically increased the supply of tree coverage across the globe, resources are being used more efficiently than ever before, and the global economy has grown by over 100x over the last 200 hundred years.

There are legitimate reasons to be concerned about certain specific issues that we still need to improve; but overall, the data is undeniable. We are living in an age of seemingly-impossible progress in nearly every sector imaginable.