It might not seem like it, but the world is becoming a better place. It's easy to forget with all the negativity in the media nowadays, so let me remind you how the world is improving: Better health and education The average life expectancy in the US has increased by 20 years in the past century. More and more people around the world are getting health care. Democracy At the beginning of the 20th century just over 10% of the world population lived in democratic countries - now it is more than 50%. Providing for third world countries In 1990, one in ten children in the world died before age 5. Today, it's one in 20. By 2030, that number will be one in 40. While violent crimes have dropped, news coverage has gone up. The number of gun killings dropped 39% between 1993 and 2011. Only 12% of Americans surveyed said gun crime had declined compared with two decades ago, according to Pew, which surveyed more than 900 adults this spring. Twenty-six percent said it had stayed the same, and 56% thought it had increased. Internet and peace With the rise of the internet, more and more people from around the world are being connected and given a voice. We have regular people from around the world and different backgrounds here in the J&H community, all playing together. That would not have been possible 30 years ago. Also, this year we'll be celebrating the 70th anniversary since World War II ended. If you want to read more statistics about how the world is improving, click here. Last but not least The U.S Supreme Court just legalized gay marriage nationwide. That's a big step for the U.S, and I wanted to say Congratulations!
Gay marriage was also legalized here in Ireland too recently :P This is a pretty insightful thread, thanks for it!
It's about time gay marriage was legalized. Here in florida it was a hard thing seeing so many people trying to cope with the harsh law, and the fact that supreme court actually legalized it nationwide is a huge factor to the nation's reputation. I have been in support of this my whole life, as I believe that people with the same gender whould not be restricted on their choice of marriage, its just unconstitutional and im glad that they finally decided to legalize it. The protests were just saddening, but now its all over which is great, and also leaves the us open to discuss more important matters, like isis and economical issues. Anyways, sure most people will be fascinated by the fact that gay marriage is legalized (like myself) but the other things like crime drops and health/education will help the nation become stronger, smarter, and healthier. I see that with the new technology improvements, it doesnt just have a negative ffect but is making the nation creeping back up on its number one spot, where it used to be. Also democrats ftw
I don't want to ruin the good mood, but I am offended by some of these comments. Though it's good all of these things are happening, people are speaking as if the US was terrible and uncivilized before all of this happened. (Just an example, no offense) Countries around the world will always improve, but do we look back on the non-improvements and say that life was terrible back then? I don't think so. Don't hate on this post, I'm just sharing my opinion.
Not to start drama, but life in US is, indeed, terrible for some. Even now. Look to South Carolina for proof. Ask the families of murder victims if things are terrible or not Just my opinion. No hate please.
With every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction - in physics, at least. It's a terrible law to apply in real life, but I feel compelled to. Firstly, let's look at some of the bad things that have also occurred: 1. Swiftly increasing rates of depression, especially in wealthier countries. 2. Increased persecution of religions around the globe. 3. The rise of terror-based tactics in order to assert dominance in the world - just look at what occurred in France today. 4. Ignorance as an increasing issue - knowledge is becoming seen as less and less of importance as education quality rates decline. 5. Global, worldwide debt - just look at Greece, they need to pay 1.4 billion to the European bank by Tuesday else suffer yet another economic breakdown. 6. Drastic rise of HIV spread, namely through unprotected sexual acts, as well as increase in the potency of other diseases. Now, these are all individual things, but it doesn't necessarily counteract what you said in your original thread... Until we look at a few of those specifics. Yes, life expectancy has certainly increased, but with it arises drastic problems regarding social security and economic provisions - all of these being major current events in the U.S. right now. Health care, as well, requires a large loan - a loan that is being taken from the future earnings of our generation ( or at least in the U.S.). The spread of democracy is more of a neutral thing - for example, the U.S. is more of a Democratic-Republic, as are various other countries. Democracy isn't necessarily the only solution, either. Sweden's Socialist Republic might seem to have a bad connotation, but in terms of research, economy, and happiness, it's doing rather well. As heartless as it sounds, children dying early is actually a good thing for the world with regard to preventing overpopulation. I've read a book called Freaknomics, which at one point spoke about the decrease in gun crime. The crime rate in the U.S. lowered by a large margin, but believe it or not, it's because of the legalization of abortion. Abortion meant less kids growing up in poorer areas, which resulted in less crime. The margin that you gave involved 1993, which was close to the time when the effects of abortion lowered crime. As such, that result is slightly askew - to get a more recent result, you'd have to look at a smaller, more recent margin (verified by both The Washington Post and a study at Stanford University). Lastly, the Internet has also resulted in cyber-warfare, causing millions of dollars lost from cyber-attacks and large amounts of government supervision (ex: Edward Snowden). Oh, and to add onto that, let's not forget the effects of the Silk Road and easy access to taboos like child pornography. The internet causes nearly as many problems as it does heal them. I refuse to speak about the legalization of gay marriage here - I'm undecided on the matter, namely because of a compelling secular argument that I wouldn't dare post publicly (I guess anyone that wants to hear it can send me a convo). It might seem like I'm playing Devil's Advocate here - which I am, because this is a fun topic to debate about. While you certainly bring up compelling points, the bad effects seem to outweigh the good ones. That being said, I respect any argument that can be rationally defended; as such, I completely respect yours as well. If anyone disagrees with me, I encourage replies.
Finally. I love how the world is turning out to be. It could be better but still it's getting there :P
Are you serious? About 800k goes to prisons in 1 year. In 1 year about 200k goes towards schools and education. Which I find fucking ridiculous.
Yeah, usually I don't call people out this blatantly, but the statistics don't add up on that comment.
Yes I got to much but waaaaay more money gets spent on jails than education and that is a fact unless my history teacher is a liar.
I would agree that the world is becoming a better place. But at some points it isn't.. think about all the drug dealers and all of those bad guys, otherwise everything else is pretty much fine.
I mean yea sure if you're gonna be ignorant then drug dealers are definitely the only problem with the world at the moment.(((: