Best. Decade. Ever

[Rii]

Now here's a bullish headline from Foreign Policy magazine. I like that.

Best. Decade. Ever.

The past 10 years have gotten a bad rap as the "Naughty Aughties" -- and deservedly so, it seems, for a decade that began with 9/11 and the Enron scandal and closed with the global financial crisis and the Haiti earthquake. In between, we witnessed the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, SARS and swine flu, not to mention vicious fighting in Sudan and Congo, Afghanistan and, oh yes, Iraq. Given that our brains seem hard-wired to remember singular tragedy over incremental success, it's a hard sell to convince anyone that the past 10 years are worthy of praise.

But these horrific events, though mortal and economic catastrophes for many millions, don't sum up the decade as experienced by most of the planet's 6-billion-plus people. For all its problems, the first 10 years of the 21st century were in fact humanity's finest, a time when more people lived better, longer, more peaceful, and more prosperous lives than ever before.

The article proceeds to run through a battery of statistics relating to global trends in income, hunger, disease, education, gender equality, conflict and life expectancy, but I'll allow the reader to peruse those at leisure.

Perhaps technology also helps account for the striking disconnect between the reality of worldwide progress and the perception of global decline. We're more able than ever to witness the tragedy of millions of our fellow humans on television or online. And, rightly so, we're more outraged than ever that suffering continues in a world of such technological wonder and economic plenty.

Nonetheless, if you had to choose a decade in history in which to be alive, the first of the 21st century would undoubtedly be it. More people lived lives of greater freedom, security, longevity, and wealth than ever before. And now, billions of them can tweet the good news.

It's heartening to think about all the slow progress that event-focussed news is ill-equipped to cover and human psychology ill-equipped to appreciate, but it seems to me that humanity will face its gravest challenges over the next century or two. I'm grateful for every breath I'm able to draw, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like to be around to see how it turns out. Fingers crossed.

 

[Gaith]

After seeing this TED talk about the decline of human violence, this doesn't surprise me. Still nice to be reminded of, though.

 

[JarodRussell]

Don't know, I try to forget about the last decade.

 

[Lord Garth]

The '10s are better by default.