General Malaise strikes again!

I take pains to point to students that the world has never been better.  Almost always, they don't trust me when I say that.  But, what really gets them is this: I tell them to imagine a world without the internet and smartphones.  That always gets their attention.  I then follow it up with more evidence about the human condition.

I was, therefore, pleased when the man whom trump hates the most--Barack Obama--came out of his hiding place and delivered a wonderful speech, in which he said:

 By almost every measure, America is better, and the world is better, than it was 50 years ago, or 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

Obama continued with:

when I speak to young people, I often ask: if you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn't know ahead of time who you were going to be -- what nationality; what gender; what race; whether you'd be rich or poor -- what moment would you choose? You'd choose right now. Because the world has never been healthier or wealthier. Despite some ongoing conflicts, the world at large has never been more tolerant or less violent. Fewer people are dying young, and more people are living not only longer, but better. More girls are in school; more adults can read; more children get the vaccines they need. There has never been a better time to be a young person on this planet. There have never been more powerful, more accessible tools for each of you to make a difference in your world, than today.
These trends are real. They're not the result of mysterious forces or chance.

Yes, these positive trendlines did not mysteriously happen.  We the people made that happen over time.  We built on what the previous generations accomplished.

The Economist, and Bill and Melinda Gates, remind us that there is a lot more that is needed to be done.

Source

Even the uber-optimistic Gates couple is not so optimistic, writes The Economist:

For a variety of reasons, from demography to American and European politics, Mr Gates fears that campaigns to eradicate extreme poverty, HIV and malaria are going awry. He also believes that the rich world has not noticed. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has hitherto been characterised by confidence, especially about the potential for technological innovation to solve the world’s knottiest problems. So the change of mood is significant.

It is difficult to be an optimist in a world of trump, modi, putin, duterte, mugabe, suu kyi ... :(