Galloway: The world is significantly better off than 40 years ago

The world is significantly wealthier, freer, healthier, and better educated than it was forty years ago.

In 1980, over 40% of humanity lived in extreme poverty. Today, less than 10% does.

In 1980, 44% of humanity had no democratic rights. Today, it is less than 25%.

A child born in 1980 had a life expectancy of 63 years. A child born today should live a decade longer.

In 1980, 30% of people fifteen years and older had no formal education. By 2015, that share had been cut in half.

The modern world order has ample flaws, but sometimes the scale of our achievement is so vast, it becomes a static backdrop we lose sight of.