From https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#global-decline-of...
In 1800 the health conditions of our ancestors were such that 43% of the world’s newborns died before their 5th birthday. These estimates are shown in the visualisation below.
In 1960 child mortality was still 18.5%. Almost every 5th child born in that year died in childhood.
Over the last decades we have seen a very rapid decline of child mortality globally. In 2015 child mortality was down to 4.3% – 10-fold lower than 2 centuries ago. You have to take this long perspective to see the progress that we have achieved.
> According to the World Bank, more than 850 million people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty as China's poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 0.7 percent in 2015
China was not historically poor, and this is a reversion to the mean once minimal free trade was allowed.
Still, what caused the advance does not diminish the success of humanity. Progress is progress.
It is? Don't you think, there can also be progress in the wrong direction?
https://ourworldindata.org/the-global-decline-of-extreme-pov...
We still have a great deal more room for improvement.
I love how every time there's talk of povery, some first world beneficiary jumps in to point out how much better poor people are compared to the past. Why they think that's relevant is beyond me.
Really? How so?