Now for the Good News . . .

Cheer up: Despite the gloom, the world truly is becoming a better place. Indeed, 2017 is likely to be the best year in the history of humanity.

To explain why, let me start with a story. On a recent reporting trip to the African nation of Liberia, I met John Brimah, who caught leprosy as a boy.

At the age of 12, Brimah was banished by his village and forced to live in an isolated grass hut. His father would bring food and water once a day to a spot halfway between the village and the hut.

For a year and a half, he lived in complete isolation as his leprosy worsened. Then a missionary from Ohio happened to pass by. “He heard me crying and investigated,” Brimah recalled. The missionary took him to a leprosy center where he received treatment. Left untreated, leprosy can lead to the loss of fingers, toes, and even entire feet.

Brimah was cured, received a missionary education, and became a nurse. Now he’s in charge of a leprosy hospital in Ganta, on the Liberia-Guinea border, making sure others get the kind of treatment that transformed his life.

Cheer up! Despite the gloom, the world is becoming a better place. Indeed, 2017 is likely to be the best year in human history.

To explain why, let me start with a story. On a recent reporting trip to the African nation of Liberia, I met John Brimah. He caught leprosy as a boy.

At the age of 12, Brimah’s village banished him, forcing him to live in an isolated grass hut. His father would bring food and water once a day to a spot halfway between the village and the hut.

For a year and a half, he lived in complete isolation as his leprosy worsened. Then a missionary from Ohio happened to pass by. “He heard me crying and investigated,” Brimah recalled. The missionary took him to a leprosy center where he received treatment. Left untreated, leprosy can lead to the loss of fingers, toes, and even entire feet.

Brimah got cured, received a missionary education, and became a nurse. Now he’s in charge of a leprosy hospital in Ganta, on the Liberia-Guinea border. He works to make sure others get the kind of treatment that transformed his life.

Worldwide, leprosy cases have dropped 97 percent since 1985, and for those who still get the disease, it’s now easily treatable. 

The progress against leprosy reflects the larger gains against poverty and disease—which I believe may be the most important trend in the world today. Certainly it’s the best news nobody knows about.

Perhaps the optimism doesn’t feel right. You’re alarmed by terrorism and the risk of rising seas, if we’re not first incinerated by North Korean nukes (see Can North Korea Be Stopped?). Those are good reasons for concern, but remember that for most of history humans agonized over something more elemental: Will my children survive?

Just since 1990, more than 100 million children’s lives have been saved through vaccinations and improved nutrition and medical care. They’re no longer dying of malaria, diarrhea, or having one’s intestines blocked by wriggling worms.

Leprosy cases across the globe have dropped 97 percent since 1985. For those who still get the disease, it’s now easily treatable.

The progress against leprosy reflects the larger gains against poverty and disease. This may be the most important trend in the world today. It's certainly the best news nobody knows about.

Perhaps the optimism doesn’t feel right. You’re alarmed by terrorism and the risk of rising seas, if we’re not first incinerated by North Korean nukes (see Can North Korea Be Stopped?). Those are good reasons for concern. But remember that for most of history something more basic worried humans: Will my children survive?

Vaccinations and improved nutrition and medical care have saved the lives of more than 100 million children. And that's only been since 1990. They’re no longer dying of malaria or diarrhea. And wriggling worms aren't blocking their intestines. 

Nine out of 10 Americans say in polls that global poverty has been staying the same or worsening. So let’s correct the record.

There has been a stunning decline in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than about $2 per person per day, adjusted for inflation. For most of history, probably more than 90 percent of the world population lived in extreme poverty; that number has plunged to less than 10 percent today.

Consider the progress we’re making every single day:

• 300,000 people get electricity for the first time.

• 285,000 people get access to clean drinking water.

• And 250,000 people graduate from extreme poverty.

When I was a boy, a majority of adults had always been illiterate, but now more than 85 percent can read. The number of global war deaths is far below what it was in the 1950s through the 1990s, let alone the murderous 1930s and ’40s.

Nine out of 10 Americans say in polls that global poverty has been staying the same or worsening. So let’s correct the record.

There has been a stunning decline in extreme poverty. This standard is defined as living on less than about $2 per person per day, adjusted for inflation. For most of history, more than 90 percent of the world population lived in extreme poverty. That number has plunged to less than 10 percent today.

Consider the progress we’re making every single day:

• 300,000 people get electricity for the first time.

• 285,000 people get access to clean drinking water.

• And 250,000 people graduate from extreme poverty.

When I was a boy, a majority of adults had always been illiterate, but now more than 85 percent can read. The number of global war deaths is far below what it was in the 1950s through the 1990s, let alone the murderous 1930s and ’40s.