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Articles on the quiet progress beneath the headlines

Proof the world keeps getting better

Warm, honest, sourced articles. Read one and feel a little calmer.

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Misty river flows through a sunlit autumn landscape
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Watch the world load

Drag a slider from 1900 to 2050 and watch a century of progress fill up, using real figures from the UN, the World Bank and others. Here’s a taste.

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1950, then today

Children who survive to age five75% then, 96% now
Adults who can read36% then, 88% now
Life expectancy at birth (out of 100 years)46 then, 73 now
World figures for 1950 (light) and the latest year (dark): 2024 for child survival and literacy, 2023 for life expectancy. Sources: UN IGME and Gapminder; UNESCO and other sources; UN World Population Prospects; via Our World in Data. 1950 figures are reconstructions.
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Article · Why it feels worse

Why the world feels worse than it is

I was on a treadmill when the crane fell over. Why the news shows us the sudden, and misses the river underneath.

Ben Rama · 9th November 2026

The Loading Bar, showing nine progress bars for 2025

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Watch a century load in ten seconds

9th November 2026

A glass of water on a wooden table

Photo by Jonathan Cosens Photography on Unsplash

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Three ways in

The evidence

Poverty, health, violence and everyday life, with sources you can check.

How progress compounds

The ratchets that stop progress slipping back, and why knowledge keeps building.

The inner turn

Wellbeing, meaning and attention, in plain psychology language.

Optimism is not a prediction. It is a form of service.

Ben Rama