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Ah yes, the state of the world: - Lowest global poverty rate of all time (<3%) - Lowest global childhood mortality rate of all time (<4%) - Lowest incidence

Ah yes, the state of the world: - Lowest global poverty rate of all time (<3%) - Lowest global childhood mortality rate of all time (<4%) - Lowest incidence of child labor ever (<17%) - Most wealth per capita ever - Highest literacy rate of all time (86%) - Lowest CO2 emissions per $ of GDP since 1950 - Highest % of people living in a democracy (70%) A horrible world to raise kids in. Definitely. All data from https://ourworldindata.org/ https://ourworldindata.org/. Great resource.

usaar333 7y ago
Overall agreed on these, but to nitpick, the world has gotten less democratic over the past decade. 57% in 2005; just under 56% in 2015; probably a bit lower now. (not sure where you get 70% from). from https://ourworldindata.org/democracy https://ourworldindata.org/democracy
- bmmayer1 7y ago
  Ah, I was including anocracies in the number because they are technically democracies and still an improvement over autocracies. Should have rephrased as "70% live in at least a partial democracy"
cgrealy 7y ago
Conveniently ignoring the existential threat humanity faces from climate change. https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emis... All the democracy and economic growth in the world won't matter a damn if you're starving and on fire.
- javagram 7y ago
  Humans have shown the ability to adapt to climate change before (Little Ice Age or even the real last Ice Age). There’s no reason to believe we won’t be able to tackle global warming. Will there be some hardship? Yes. Will it be worse than the “nasty, brutish, and short” life most people had throughout history before the 20th century? I doubt it very much.
  - cgrealy 7y ago
    There is every reason to believe the real cost of climate change will be in the 10s, perhaps hundreds, of millions of lives. If you want to class that as “some hardship”, that’s your prerogative.
cam_l 7y ago
Percentages, not absolutes. Most of your list could equally be phrased as, highest number of people living... Not to mention deliberately missing the greater point.. Very much the apocryphal story of the peak time to be alive for the thanksgiving turkey. I mean there are plenty of good argument against the substance of the article without resorting such tactics. Like seriously, was it ever a good time in history to have kids?

usaar333 7y ago

Overall agreed on these, but to nitpick, the world has gotten less democratic over the past decade. 57% in 2005; just under 56% in 2015; probably a bit lower now. (not sure where you get 70% from). from https://ourworldindata.org/democracy https://ourworldindata.org/democracy

bmmayer1 7y ago
Ah, I was including anocracies in the number because they are technically democracies and still an improvement over autocracies. Should have rephrased as "70% live in at least a partial democracy"

cgrealy 7y ago

Conveniently ignoring the existential threat humanity faces from climate change. https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emis... All the democracy and economic growth in the world won't matter a damn if you're starving and on fire.

javagram 7y ago
Humans have shown the ability to adapt to climate change before (Little Ice Age or even the real last Ice Age). There’s no reason to believe we won’t be able to tackle global warming. Will there be some hardship? Yes. Will it be worse than the “nasty, brutish, and short” life most people had throughout history before the 20th century? I doubt it very much.
- cgrealy 7y ago
  There is every reason to believe the real cost of climate change will be in the 10s, perhaps hundreds, of millions of lives. If you want to class that as “some hardship”, that’s your prerogative.

cam_l 7y ago

Percentages, not absolutes. Most of your list could equally be phrased as, highest number of people living... Not to mention deliberately missing the greater point.. Very much the apocryphal story of the peak time to be alive for the thanksgiving turkey. I mean there are plenty of good argument against the substance of the article without resorting such tactics. Like seriously, was it ever a good time in history to have kids?