Theories of unstoppable progress can be dangerous, but it’s hard to argue that our world is not a richer, more equal, healthier place in 2017 than it was in 1817.  To the above can be added Steven Pinker and others’ work showing that over the long-term human against human violence is trending downwards.  Maybe 2017 won’t be such a terrible year after all, if we look beyond the headlines to the slow, painstaking work of improving health care systems, teaching everyone literacy and numeracy, and solidifying political institutions.

A deeper dig into the data is available here.