At my kids' school, The Classical Academy, they are required to learn Latin. It is remarkable how well learning Latin improves vocabulary and helps infer the meaning of unknown words.
I'm sure everyone is welcoming the cooler, drier weather. I am breaking out the old chili recipe this weekend, and I'm sure we will watch lots of football. I am undefeated in my fantasy football league, much to the chagrin of my 15-year-old, who can basically name every player in the NFL.
Some of the hardest hit structures in the hurricane were commercial greenhouses, which, as an orchid enthusiast, are close to my heart. On Tallevast Rd, a large bromeliad greenhouse called Tropiflora, which supplies all of Busch Gardens, lost almost the entire facility. It's a family-run business that has been around since 1976, and it's really sad to see the damage.
It seems like the area was somewhat fortunate to escape the hurricane's worst impact. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law, Yaya and her garden didn't do so well. As you might recall, she hails from Thailand and had a backyard teeming with mango trees and other exotic fruit trees. They lost over half of the trees, making it the most severe damage I've seen in anyone's yard. It took 12 helpful local church members with chainsaws a couple of days to even make a dent in the cleanup efforts.
We are living in some interesting times. I figured we all needed some good news to fight the unrelenting negativity of the media.
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 99% since the 1920s and ’30s.
90% of the world’s population was illiterate in 1820. Today, the world 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.
TheIQ of people worldwide has been increasing at an incredible pace. Over the past hundred years, the average IQ has risen by 30 points. The exact reason for this trend is unknown, but it is likely influenced by improved nutrition, mentally stimulating media, increased education access, and reduced childhood disease prevalence.
Mothers died 1% of the time during childbirth in the 18th century. Now it is 500 times less.
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.
In the past thirty years, homicide rates have been reduced by 17%.
Military spending is going down. In the past fifty years, 6% of the world’s GDP (gross domestic product) was spent on the military. That number is now 2.2%.
In the 1930s, the average American urban worker worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week. Today, the standard workweek is eight hours a day, five days a week.
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 considered "protected and regulated." Yosemite Park was one of the few exceptions. Today, fifteen percent of the Earth is protected under these laws, which is twice the size of the United States.
Economists have warned since 1910 that the Earth is running out of oil. However, despite these warnings, the world has pumped nearly one trillion barrels of oil since 1980. Recent estimates in 2023 show that the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) holds approximately 350 million barrels of oil.
At the current consumption rate, oil will run out in fifty years. Alternative energy is predicted to overcome the use of fossil fuels in the next 20 to 30 years. It appears we will be left with a significant oil surplus before it runs out.
In the past fifty years, the prevalence of malnourishment in the world has dropped from 37% to 10%.
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%.
Seventy-three percent of Sub-Saharan Africa owns a smartphone. A Nigerian coal miner can send money to his mother in Lagos. 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.
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