I have often discussed the question of whether or not things are improving on this small planet of ours, and I have often encountered the response “Things keep getting worse.” When I hear that response I will ask one simple question: “At what point in the history of this planet would you rather live?” After some back and forth debate on how we might measure “worse” we inevitably come to the conclusion that pretty much NOW is the best time to be alive on this planet. Which then makes me ask “Help me understand how things are getting worse for human kind? Life expectancy has increased dramatically, poverty levels and starvation levels continue to decline, and people have more freedom than ever before.” Of course I don’t mean to suggest there is not more work to be done, but the notion things are getting worse is simply not supported by the facts.
Historically, it is not through imposing limits but by transcending them that we have achieved truly remarkable progress. In the last century, although global population quadrupled, human wealth quintupled. Food production steadily outstripped population growth, and today we still produce enough to feed everyone on earth, and billions more. People starve because they can’t afford food – not because it doesn’t exist.
Human ingenuity has overcome resource shortages time and again, developing new technologies, using commodities more efficiently, overcoming scarcity and improving our living standards. The real question is why, given this historical record, we seem to have completely lost faith in our ability to keep doing this.
Source: March of the eco-imperialists
h/t to Kate (again)
Update: Graph showing Net US GDP from 1790 to 2007
