Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less dis

[scribblet]

Why 2012 was the best year ever according to the Spectator. A U.K. Magazine, I've no idea who who owns it or anything about it but I liked the article.

Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less disease and more prosperity

http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/8789981/glad-tidings/#comments

It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world. That sounds like an extravagant claim, but it is borne out by evidence. Never has there been less hunger, less disease or more prosperity. The West remains in the economic doldrums, but most developing countries are charging ahead, and people are being lifted out of poverty at the fastest rate ever recorded. The death toll inflicted by war and natural disasters is also mercifully low. We are living in a golden age.

To listen to politicians is to be given the opposite impression — of a dangerous, cruel world where things are bad and getting worse. This, in a way, is the politicians’ job: to highlight problems and to try their best to offer solutions. But the great advances of mankind come about not from statesmen, but from ordinary people. Governments across the world appear stuck in what Michael Lind, on page 30, describes as an era of ‘turboparalysis’ — all motion, no progress. But outside government, progress has been nothing short of spectacular.

Take global poverty. In 1990, the UN announced Millennium Development Goals, the first of which was to halve the number of people in extreme poverty by 2015. It emerged this year that the target was met in 2008. Yet the achievement did not merit an official announcement, presumably because it was not achieved by any government scheme but by the pace of global capitalism. Buying cheap plastic toys made in China really is helping to make poverty history. And global inequality? This, too, is lower now than any point in modern times. Globalisation means the world’s not just getting richer, but fairer too.

The doom-mongers will tell you that we cannot sustain worldwide economic growth without ruining our environment. But while the rich world’s economies grew by 6 per cent over the last seven years, fossil fuel consumption in those countries fell by 4 per cent. This remarkable (and, again, unreported) achievement has nothing to do with green taxes or wind farms. It is down to consumer demand for more efficient cars and factories.

cont...

Edited March 14, 2013 by scribblet

[GostHacked]

From the article.

It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world. That sounds like an extravagant claim, but it is borne out by evidence. Never has there been less hunger, less disease or more prosperity. The West remains in the economic doldrums, but most developing countries are charging ahead, and people are being lifted out of poverty at the fastest rate ever recorded. The death toll inflicted by war and natural disasters is also mercifully low. We are living in a golden age.

I can't tell if he is being serious or not. The way I am seeing it with the EU Zone about to implode, Italy, Greece, Germany and the UK along with others are in serious financial trouble.

Ongoing global war on terror is now in more countries than 10 years ago.

In terms of natural disasters, when the last decade saw Katrina, the Indonesia tsunami, The Japan triple hit, yeah 2012 would be a walk in the park....

I applaud the guys optimism, but I don't think he is living in reality.

[scribblet]

I guess we need stats etc. to back it up, but this seems to be in line with the article, it's from March, 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/world/extreme-poverty-down-despite-recession-world-bank-data-show.html

This seems to agree about fewer casualties of war

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/info-center/think-again-war/

Edited March 14, 2013 by scribblet

[GostHacked]

How are they calculating extreme poverty? Does it take into account inflation? Since many currencies have seen some devalue it just means that $1.25 they are talking about could be lower.

[Moonlight Graham]

How are they calculating extreme poverty? Does it take into account inflation? Since many currencies have seen some devalue it just means that $1.25 they are talking about could be lower.

Hmm that's a good question. Also, income can increase, but buying power can decrease. Many developing countries have experienced an inflation in food prices following the global food crisis starting 2007-2008.

[Michael Hardner]

Thank you for posting this scriblett.

[Sleipnir]

The proportion of hunger and poverty is decreasing, but the actual numbers are increasing according to the United Nation Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - and things are getting worse.

Unfortunately scriblet, that article is rife with errors - "War is humanity biggest killer", is the author seriously saying this?

Edited March 15, 2013 by Sleipnir