KEVIN ROBERTS

The Case for Optimism (Part III)

Seven facts from Hans Rosling’s book ‘Factfulness’.
1)   Fewer people live in poverty now than any other time in history.
·       Over the past 20 years the proportion of people in the world living in extreme poverty has been cut in half.
·       The majority of the world’s population live in the middle of the income scale.
2)   Life expectancy is the highest it’s ever been:
·       Most people have improved their lives dramatically.
·       Life expectancy is up to 72 yrs old globally and 77 in the Americas.
3)   Worldwide child mortality rates have dropped significantly.
·       In 2015 only 4.5% of children globally died before age 5.  In 1950, that number was 22%.
4)   Overpopulation is not going to be a problem anytime soon.
·       Fertility rates are down from 5.5 children per woman in 1950 to 2.49 today.
5)   Global economies have been growing, driving up income levels.
·       GDP in developed nations has been growing by roughly 2% a year for the past 150 years – income levels double every 36 years.
·       And countries such as China and India are growing even faster.
6)   Worldwide, fewer people live under authoritarian governments.
·       55.8% of the world lives in a democracy – compared to 31.4% in 1950.  Just 22.23% of the world lives in an autocracy, the vast majority in China.
7)   This is a time of relative peace, with fewer international conflicts.
·       Less than 1% of the world is dying from war/terrorism.
So, despite Trump, despite Brexit, despite the constant moaning/whinging – things are getting better.
Keep Going!
KR

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Kevin Roberts

Kevin Roberts is founder of Red Rose Consulting; business leader and educator; author and speaker; adviser on marketing, creative thinking and leadership.

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