Have you voted? Hmmm…… For me answer depends on how we have let our mind to be programmed. And on this front, I am with former VP of facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya: we don’t realize but we are being programmed not just what to think but also how and why to think. I can hear you disagree – “Get off, I’m an independent thinker. I don’t let anyone decide what I think.” I truly hope you are right. Maybe I’m just naïve boy who believe everything he reads or hears…. Or may be I just don’t believe anything …who knows.
So, back to the subject: Is it really bad time to bring up kids? The “Yes” voting mind sees, reads and hear Trump, Brexit, Global warming, violence & terrorism, extreme idealism and so on. How can world be a better place when a journalist is killed inside the embassy in the broad day light? When extreme psychopaths kill people while praying or just going about their life or enjoying music? When beheading is justified in the name of religion? When hundreds of thousands or millions have to flee their home to avoid death and torture? When power and profit takes priority over life and basic human rights? When bullying is considered power and compassion as weakness? When you can’t trust what you see, read or hear? Or when “truth isn’t a truth”? I could go on…… So how can you possibly argue that it isn’t a really bad time to bring kids up?
And UN report (www.un.org/) suggests that on average a journalist is killed every 4 days, nearly a billion people live in slums, 10% of children are subjected to child labour, global opium production increased by 65% in 2017 and cocaine production reached highest ever…….. so of course it’s a bad idea to bring children into this world today…..right?
Now enough of the doom and gloom…..Now I want to see the brighter side. I hear you ask “is there one?” I’m sure there is or at least I believe there is – hear me out.
Today’s generation lives in probably the most luxurious time than ever before (Sadhguru). What was considered luxury and only available to the riches 3-4 decades ago is now accessible to many and has become essentials such as personal vehicles, white goods etc. In fact, according to UN report (www.un.org/annualreport/) proportion of population below international poverty line of $1.90 a day reduced from 30% in 2000 to just under 11% in 2013. Since 1960, income per person has gone up significantly for example, in China it has gone up eightfold, India’s has quadrupled, and Brazil’s has almost quintupled (https://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/12-ways-the-world-is-better-than-ever-according-to-bill-and).
(Source UN report 2018)
Hmmm…… not bad start on this side of the argument, is it? According to WHO (www.who.int) polio paralyzed more than 350 000 people a year just over 3 decades ago now almost none. Under 5 child mortality rate has been cut to half from 80% in 2000. Advancement in health care and treatment particularly in HIV, TB, Cancer etc. has significantly reduced human sufferings… Life expectancy in the advanced economy is around 80 increased from around 70 just 50 years ago.
And as per UN, proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments have been more than doubled to 23% since 2000. Proportion of population using safely managed clean water and sanitation services increased by 13% in last 15 years. Peace, justice and strong institutions (Countries with National Human Rights Institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles) increased from 30 to 75. What about smartphones, internets, now #BlockChain? And of course, most importantly @steemit? It surely is a better time to live, right?
(Source: www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/01/08/bill-gates-heres-why-you-should-feel-optimistic-right-now.html)
May be I’m just looking through the rose tinted glass now.
What actually is the reality? Am I really seeing things as they are or am just vomiting the information I had been fed up? And does it matter? Well - Truth matters and it always does, no matter how inconvenient or uncomfortable it might be. And truth may be probably in the middle “Maybe” where I would cast my vote.
And I think that’s where our individual discretionary wisdom comes to play. I don’t believe the world today is as bad as the media, politicians, corporations want us to believe. Neither do I see it as harmonious peaceful place. Both narratives may have their places. While we can’t deny the challenges ahead we also can’t ignore the human achievement.
I will stop blabbering with quote from Ralph Emerson “The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.”