A good chance for human survival

It is easy to feel despondent about the condition of the world today. Every year millions of people die from violent conflicts, poverty, and diseases like AIDS and Malaria. Those who escape this death toll have to grapple with the threat of global warming, economic depression and an impending energy crisis.

 

Our current situation looks bleak. In many cases the damage we’ve inflicted upon each other and our environment seems to have finally produced obstacles that can’t be overcome. Is it really as bad as it seems to be? Are we slowly faltering along the path of human progress?

 

The answer is tentatively optimistic. Life is indeed pretty crappy for a great number of people, but the end of days is probably not yet at hand. There are some exceptions, but a large body of evidence suggests that life is actually getting better for the majority of humans. 

 

In the early 1980’s the World Bank reported that more than 40 percent of people were living on less than one US dollar per day. Individuals living in such extreme poverty had little access to medical care, education, or safe drinking water. Thus, child mortality rates were high and life expectancy was relatively low.

 

Today, only around 20 percent of the world population lives on less than one dollar per day. Except for Africa, poverty rates have declined significantly throughout the world since the early 80’s. Life expectancy is increasing in many of the poorest nations and, according to UNICEF, child mortality rates have decreased by nearly 50 percent. In fact, for the first time in modern society the child mortality rate is under 10 million per year.  

 

Most of the world is also becoming more educated. International literacy has gone from about 75 percent to nearly 90 percent in the last thirty years, and high school and college education rates are increasing in nearly every world region.

 

These social advances in turn contribute to an increasingly robust world market. According to the World Bank the global economy grew by 4 percent last year, and many other countries prospered above this international average. The gross domestic product increased by 7 percent in India, 10 percent in China, and more than 6 percent in Africa last year.

 

Advances in global health issues provides another solid platform of optimism. Government and philanthropic funding for the research and treatment of disease and poverty has never been higher, and new treatments are being developed every day.

 

Except for Africa, death rates from two of the world’s deadliest diseases – HIV and malaria – are declining. Vaccination programs have defeated smallpox, reduced measles by 60 percent over the last ten years, and nearly eradicated polio. Genetically engineered food is reducing malnutrition, and simple vitamin drops are preventing blindness and death in children across the world.

 

Of course, disease and poverty are still deadly realities for many people, and positive trends are not good reasons to shrug off responsibility or justify apathy. Instead they should serve as a map marker to help guide the progress of our species.

 

Nearly half of Americans believe that we should not get involved with the welfare of other countries. Their impulse to focus on our own problems is certainly understandable, but this would be a disastrously counterproductive approach. Human progress is an internationally connected effort, and without continued commitment to the prosperity of our fellow man the future really will become as awful as it sometimes seems. 

 

 

References: 

 

International Poverty Statistics: http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/tables/dollaraday.htm

International Education Statistics:

http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=143&IF_Language=eng

International Child Mortality Rates:

http://www.undispatch.com/archives/2007/09/global_child_mo.php

World Health Statistics:

http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/en/