“The world has never been richer, healthier, freer or more equal than it is today.” (Image by Steven Zwerink.)
There is still a lot of suffering the world, a lot of inequality. It’s no time to spike the football. But I largely agree with Fraser Nelson’s Telegraph article which argues that we’re living in a sort of golden age. An excerpt:
“It feels almost indecent to enjoy the Olympics so much. To spend a day at the Games is to move into a parallel universe, where things are actually going right for Britain and some mild rejoicing is justified. The Olympic motto, ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger,’ strikes a depressing contrast with a British economy showing none of these characteristics. Behind the jubilation lies a horrible feeling that when the Games end, we’ll be back to the grim reality: the Leveson Inquiry, the still-unravelling Budget and the slow-motion implosion of global capitalism.
There ought to be a name for this feeling: political myopia. It can afflict anyone who confuses what politicians do with what’s happening in the country, or what they say with what is going on in the world. Governments may be having a hard time of it, struggling with debt they ought not to have taken on. Noisy pressure groups who seek government funding may also believe that the sky is falling in. But a clear-headed analysis of the facts reveals something rather extraordinary. The crash has not even retarded, let alone halted, human progress. The world has never been richer, healthier, freer or more equal than it is today.” (Thanks Browser.)
Tags: Fraser Nelson