Pinker described (yesterday's post) improvement of aspects of life for people around the world, things that we all want to see improved: health, education, life expectancy, prosperity, peace, freedom, safety, knowledge, leisure.
Glancing at the comments on youtube, I'm surprised at the people who flat refuse to believe there's been progress - like the one who is sure this is wrong because, as he says, he's been to China ( . . ?) I think the World Bank is a better authority, and here's what they say:
"Despite the clear evidence, many people are not aware of the fact that extreme poverty is declining across the world.
"The chart below shows the perceptions that survey-respondents in the UK have regarding global achievements in poverty reductions. While the share of extremely poor people has fallen faster than ever before in history over the last 30 years, the majority of people in the UK thinks that the opposite has happened, and that poverty has increased!"
image: world bank
(cont'd tomorrow)
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