Each person reading this has the distinct privilege of living at the most interesting time in human history. Never before has the prospects for humanity have been as bright as they are now.
In order to truly appreciate the extraordinary nature of our era, we must take a historical perspective. According to Angus Maddison, a highly regarded economic historian, for the vast majority of human history per capita income was no greater than a few hundred dollars. In the year one of the common era, world per capita GDP was around $450. By 1800, it had increased to around $600. The quality of life for most people has increased more in the last two hundred years than it did in the thousands (indeed, millions) of years before 1800. According to Maddision, the standard of living in Africa (generally considered to be the world's poorest region) is greater than Europe in 1800 (which was then the region with the highest per capita GDP in the world). In Asia, the standard of living has improved more in the last 50 years than it did in the thousands of years before.
Two hundred years ago, life expectancy was in the range of 35 to 40 years. People who are considered adolescents in today's world would have been considered middle aged two hundred years ago. Two thousands years ago, most people could not expect to live past 25; in today's world, we usually consider 25 to be the beginning of one's life. Today, even in developing countries, life expectancy is around 60. The poorest people in the world today live longer and better than the richest people of a few hundred years ago.
Of course, not everyone has shared in this era of modern economic growth. Half of the world's population still lives on $2 per day. One-sixth of the world's population (1 billion people) still go to bed hungry every night. The difference between today and eras past is that now for the first time, it is within our grasp to eliminate that harsh reality. If governments around the world become and remain committed to pro-economic growth policies, open markets, embrace globalization and spend more on education than they spend on subsidies, within our lifetimes, the harsh reality of extreme poverty can be eliminated.
In any instance, it would behoove us, in this world of 24 hour sensational news and such, to take a historical perspective and appreciate the life with which we are blessed.
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3 comments:
Compelling information, Mr. Singh.
Just to nitpick about the life expectancy thing -- early in human history, those figures are misleading, because infant mortality rates were so high. Once a person reached about 5, his or her life expectancy tended to shoot up to something more like 60.
Re: Life expectancy figures
I understand that using different ages as a starting point gives us different measures of life expectancy. But I am of the view that life expectancy at birth is the most useful figure, because even if it was the case that life expectancy at age five was sixty, the probability of living to age five was very low.
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