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GOOD NEWS: 14 Reasons 2014 May Be the Best Year Ever

2013-12-31 · John · watch on YouTube · Global development · explainer learning

John starts the new year with good news: falling divorce, unintended pregnancy, infant and malaria mortality, poverty, cancer and traffic deaths, rising literacy and internet speeds; this progress is tenuous and partly unsustainable, but real and worth celebrating.

What is said

00:00:00 — Good news to start the year: US divorce rates and the global unintended-pregnancy rate are falling

  • ★★★ John says that amid the misery of human life it is easy to forget how much is worth celebrating, so he starts the new year with good news. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says US divorce rates have fallen every year since 2006 and are at their lowest level since 1970. — 00:00:10 · United States
  • ★★ John says the global unintended-pregnancy rate fell from 69 per 1,000 women in 1995 to 55 per 1,000 in 2008, good because such pregnancies raise infant mortality. — 00:00:21

00:00:39 — Infant mortality at an all-time low; falling infant mortality stabilizes population; Colts playoff aside

  • ★★★ John says worldwide infant mortality is at an all-time low, falling from 46 to 35 deaths per 1,000 births in the last eight years. — 00:00:39
  • ★★ John says that when infant mortality declines families have fewer children, so falling infant mortality helps human population stabilize, against overpopulation fears. — 00:00:48
  • ★ John jokes that there are already too many people driving up playoff ticket prices for his hometown Indianapolis Colts, who are going to the playoffs. (playful) — 00:01:00

00:01:07 — Absolute poverty down worldwide (UN, $1.25 a day), China, India, Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa; inequality remains

  • ★★★ John says absolute poverty is down worldwide; the UN estimates poverty fell more in the last 50 years than in the previous 500. — 00:01:07 · extreme poverty
  • ★★ John remarks that the poverty record undercuts the idea that colonization is good for the colonized. — 00:01:18
  • ★★★ John says the share of people living on under $1.25 a day, adjusted for inflation, fell from 43% in 1990 to 20% today, mostly through gains in China, India and Brazil. — 00:01:21 · extreme poverty, China
  • ★★ John says sub-Saharan Africa, long the world's poorest region, has grown much faster than the world economy for the past decade. — 00:01:31
  • ★★★ John says wealth inequality remains a huge problem worldwide, but in the vast majority of countries the poor are becoming less poor. — 00:01:36 · extreme poverty

00:01:44 — US cancer mortality down 20% in 25 years

  • ★★ John says US cancer mortality rates fell 20% in the last 25 years, mostly because people quit smoking, plus better treatment and screening for colon, breast and other cancers. — 00:01:44 · United States

00:01:58 — Faster internet worldwide; cheaper, safer air travel

  • ★★ John says US internet speeds rose 27% in 2013 over 2012, and rose worldwide, from 75% in Guatemala to 32% in Thailand, making it easier to stay in touch and collaborate. — 00:01:58 · United States
  • ★★ John says that although flying is unpleasant, airfares have fallen almost 50% since 1985, and people can fly to more places, more safely than ever. — 00:02:13

00:02:28 — US traffic fatalities per mile down since 1980

  • ★★★ John says US road deaths per 100 million miles fell from 3.5 in 1980 to 1.1 in 2011; against a 1980 baseline, safer cars and drivers saved 60,000 American lives in 2013. — 00:02:28 · United States

00:02:50 — Fewer pets euthanized; malaria mortality halved; girls in school and female literacy; longer lives, less hunger

  • ★★ John says things are improving for domesticated animals: about 17 million cats and dogs a year were euthanized in the US in the 1990s, now closer to 5 million. — 00:02:47 · United States
  • ★★★ John says the fight against malaria is working, with mortality rates down nearly 50% in the last 10 years. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ John says more girls attend school worldwide and literacy among women in their 20s rose from 79% in 1990 to 87% today. — 00:03:03 · education
  • ★★★ John says that in almost every country people are now likelier to live to old age than ten years ago, less likely to be hungry, and better connected to those they love. (hedged) — 00:03:07

00:03:19 — No YouTube or Nerdfighteria ten years ago; progress tenuous but real and worth celebrating; Happy New Year; sign-off

  • ★★ John notes ten years ago there was no YouTube, so this conversation and a Nerdfighter community raising more than three quarters of a million dollars for charity were impossible. — 00:03:19 · YouTube, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ John says this progress is tenuous and much of it unsustainable with current technology, but it is real and worth celebrating; he hopes 2014 is the best year yet. — 00:03:30

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