A better world since 1968
In December 1968, three very brave men went around the moon in the first manned flight of the Saturn 5 rocket. Four years later in 1972, the last astronauts of the Apollo programme visited the moon. Now, 58 years after that first flight, and 54 years since the last one, it is happening again and people are asking if the world is better now that it was then. The answer is an emphatic YES.
The most dramatic event has been the decrease in extreme poverty. In 1990, 2.3 billion people lived in extreme poverty. Since then, the number of extremely poor people has declined by 1.5 billion, meaning that on average, each day over those 35 years saw about 115,000 lifted out of extreme poverty. East Asia and the Pacific experienced the greatest change. in 1990, the region was home to 53% of the world's people living in extreme poverty, but by 2022 this had dropped to just 4%.
Smallpox, the ancient curse and killer of mankind, was declared extinct in 1980.
It was the first, and so far, the only human disease to be completely wiped from the Earth. A disease that had killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone was gone forever. It remains one of the greatest public health triumphs in history.
Child mortality has plummeted. In 1968, roughly 20 million children under five died each year. By the 2020s, that number had fallen to around 5 million, an improvement driven by vaccines, oral rehydration therapy, improved nutrition, and better healthcare access.
The greatest political event since that first moon flight was the end of the Cold War, marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union. It freed hundreds of millions of people from totalitarian rule and removed the imminent threat of nuclear confrontation between the superpowers. Dozens of countries gained independence or transitioned toward democracy, and the threat of global nuclear war receded hugely.
The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, providing scientists and medical professionals worldwide with access to unparalleled information about the human body. Many of the medical breakthroughs that have happened since 2003 can be traced to the human genome map being completed. This underpins much of modern medicine, from cancer treatment to personalized therapies.
In 1968, most of Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe lived under dictatorships or authoritarian regimes. The decades since have seen enormous democratic expansion. In Spain, Portugal, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, South Africa, and across Eastern Europe, hundreds of millions of people gained political freedoms their parents never had. And in South Africa, the end of Apartheid in 1994 was followed by a peaceful transition to multiracial democracy.
The ozone layer recovery was initiated by the 1987 Montreal Protocol, banning chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). It is widely regarded as the most successful international environmental treaty in history. The ozone layer has been measurably recovering ever since.
The first personal computers came on the scene soon after that first moon visit, and have transformed lives worldwide. The development of the internet has altered the ways in which people communicate, work, and live. It has connected billions of users and given access to information like never before, with thousands of information sources literally at our fingertips. It has transformed education, commerce, medicine, scientific collaboration, and human connection across the globe. The advent of the smartphone has put a computer in billions of pockets.
There was been an mRNA Vaccine Revolution The development of COVID-19 vaccines was a huge achievement, in part because a new vaccine was developed within a year, a process that typically used to take at least 5-10 years. Beyond COVID, mRNA technology has opened a new frontier in medicine with potential applications against cancer, HIV, and future pandemics.
Solar and wind energy have gone from expensive curiosities to major sources of new electricity generation. The cost of solar panels fell by over 99% between 1976 and 2023. The transition away from fossil fuels, is genuinely under way, and is accelerating.
Since 1968, many women worldwide have gained the right to vote, own property, divorce, access higher education, and hold senior positions in government and business. The transformation in the legal and social status of women across dozens of countries has been profound.
The overall picture, often obscured by understandably grim daily news, is that humanity has made remarkable progress on poverty, health, freedom, and knowledge over the past six decades. These achievements didn't happen automatically; they reflect deliberate human effort, cooperation, and moral ambition.
While the doom-mongers will point to things that have gone downhill since 1968, the facts point overwhelming to a world that is better in a myriad ways.
Madsen Pirie