These are mostly international statistics, and a lot of the progress being made is first China and now Africa and India catching up with the west. And that's g

These are mostly international statistics, and a lot of the progress being made is first China and now Africa and India catching up with the west. And that's great. In the United States, however, things have been going somewhat backwards since the mid 70's. The millennial generation is poorer than their parents were at the same age. Civil rights are beginning to get rolled back. The political situation is fraught. There are also, as others have pointed out, a number of red flashing danger signs coming from the environment. The earth is limited, and we're treating it as if it's infinite. So, from my point of view, here, the "world is getting worse" belief has some justification.