Barack Obama has a one-question test that proves how good the world is today
Julio Cortez/AP Images
At the Goalkeepers 2017 conference, held by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today in New York, Obama gave a keynote address in which he shared a one-question test to demonstrate how humanity is making progress.
"If you had to choose one moment in history in which to be born, and you didn't know in advance whether you were going to be male or female, which country you were going to be from, what your status was, you'd choose right now," he said.
He went on to say that world has never been "healthier, or wealthier, or better educated, or in many ways more tolerant, or less violent, than it is today."
The Gates foundation's recent "Goalkeepers" report and follow-up conference sought to highlight progress that might not be obvious day to day. Public health data show that greater leaps have been made in the fights against polio, childhood mortality, maternal death, gender inequality, poverty, infectious disease, and raft of other metrics over the last few decades than at any point in human history.
That macro perspective of humanity's progress is surprisingly sunny, in spite of the natural disasters, political turmoil, and terrorist activity that often captures our attention.
"It's demonstrable that fewer people are being killed in wars or conflicts than ever before," Obama said. "This is the time you'd wanna be showing up on this planet."
- I got a $40K raise using this 30-second strategy. It made me realize loud work, not hard work, always wins.
- Qatar Airways' new CEO explains why it's sticking with the Airbus A380 as other airlines retire the costly superjumbo
- Prince Harry and Meghan found out about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis on TV like everyone else, report says
- Kia India looks to expand sales, service network to 700 touchpoints by year-end
- Shapoorji Pallonji’s Afcons Infra files DRHP for ₹7,000 crore IPO
- Water crisis affects businesses across Bengaluru; Is there room for cautious optimism?
- BenQ Zowie EC2-CW review – Premium wireless mouse for gamers
- Banks' GNPAs set to improve further to 2.1 pc by FY25: Care Ratings