> > We're in the middle of the longest stretch of world peace in history... > But what is the status of military expenses? Looks like they've been at historic

> > We're in the middle of the longest stretch of world peace in history... > But what is the status of military expenses? Looks like they've been at historically-low levels for the last 15 years: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS (I seriosuly doubt they were lower in the 40s to 80s, the period before this graph, or in the 10s - maybe the 19th century had really low expenses?) > >There is less poverty (in terms of percentage of the population) than ever. > How much of that is loaned? I mean, aren't more people in perpetual, often unnecessary, debt now? This is clearly a comment about world-wide poverty, not in your neck-of-the-woods, so: http://data.worldbank.org/topic/poverty http://data.worldbank.org/topic/poverty and just in the US, it's somewhat lower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Number_in_Poverty_and_Poverty_Rate_1959_to_2011._United_States..PNG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#/... > >People are healthier and living longer than ever. > And totally dependent on drugs, often from very young, even when they are not necessary. Not to mention obesity, depression...but hey, more drugs, cola and fast food. As someone dependent on drugs since a young age, I'm really all for those drugs. My mother had to put up with "oh, it's just psychological", I'll take the drugs instead (this was asthma, FWIW). > >And we have Pokemon! It's a golden era. > Sure. I see you now. > The "awesomeness" you see is very superficial, and is quite possibly short lived. Things are far rotten if you look deep down. My perception: the people who think things are horrible now, and getting worse, have little to no understanding of how life was 50, 100, 1000 years ago.