We are currently looking for some good summer camps for the kids. The youngest, Jesse, loves math, so we will send him to a "coder's camp." This is where kids learn about computer coding by modifying video games they already like. Chris is absolutely addicted to his piano. What a wonderful thing! (He even wants to join a band). We are looking for some music camps for him. Senay has to get ready for college. So all we have left is Alex, but he has many interests, so we'll figure something out.
Senay went to prom last Friday. She didn't have an official date, so she thought it would be better to go with friends. It reminded me of my prom. I can hardly believe how dorky I looked in old pictures now that I'm an adult.
Chris is in the archery club at school. He was the first kid ever to get five bullseyes in a row. He might be the next Robinhood.
We are living in some interesting times (to say the least). I figured we all needed some good news to fight the media's unrelenting negativity.
The following good news contains an important financial lesson. The human capacity to grow, change, and innovate is absolutely incredible. If you’re worried about the stock market stopping its 200-year positive run, try this on for size:
In 1981, 42% of human beings lived in poverty. By 2018, that number had dropped to 8.6%.
A person's chance of dying from a natural catastrophe (earthquake, flood, drought, storm, wildfire, or landslide) has declined by 99% since the 1920s and ’30s.
In 1820, 90% of the world’s population was illiterate. Today, the literacy rate is over 90%.
In 1870, the average time in school globally was six months. That number is now eight and a half years.
The IQs of people worldwide are growing at an incredible pace. Over the past hundred years, IQ has increased by 30 points. How is that possible? No one knows for sure, but it has something to do with better nutrition, mentally challenging media, more schooling, and reduced childhood diseases.
In the 18th century, mothers died 1% of the time during childbirth. Now, it is .01%.
Smallpox, in the 20th century, accounted for between 300 and 500 million deaths. That is almost unimaginable. Before 1980, 30% of people who became infected died. Now, the disease has been completely eradicated by vaccines.
Since 1990, the number of people dying from cancer has dropped by 17% due to advances in medical treatments.
In the past thirty years, homicide rates have been reduced by 17%.
Military spending is decreasing. In the past fifty years, 6% of the world’s GDP (gross domestic product) was spent on the military, but it is now 2.2%.
In 1830, the country was industrialized, and the average American urban worker worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week, in brutal conditions. Today, we work eight hours a day, five days a week (often in air conditioning), and even that has been reduced by 20% since 1950.
The number of countries with legalized slavery has dropped from sixty in the year 1800 to zero today.
One hundred years ago, almost no land on Earth was deemed "protected and regulated." Yosemite Park was one of the few. Today, fifteen percent of the Earth is protected under these laws, which is twice the size of the United States.
The prevalence of malnourishment worldwide has dropped from 37% to 10% in the past fifty years.
In the past thirty years, world access to electricity rose from 71% to 87%.
In the past thirty years, access to clean water has risen from 76% to 91%.
In 1900, global life expectancy was around 31 years. Today, it has more than doubled to approximately 72 years.
Seventy-three percent of Sub-Saharan Africa owns a smartphone. A Nigerian coal miner can send money to his mother in Lagos, and a fisherman in the Congo can warn his friends about bad weather.
In the U.S., carbon monoxide emissions fell 73% in the past thirty years.
In 1990, the global under-five mortality rate was 93 deaths per 1,000 births. By 2019, that figure had dropped to 38 deaths per 1,000 births, a decline of nearly 60% due to better healthcare, vaccinations, and improved access to clean water.
Wow, that was a lot to take in. No matter what doom and gloom the media likes to heap upon you, never forget that we live in the wealthiest and safest world in human history.
Be Blessed,
Dave