The planet is burning, homes will be forever unaffordable, work is meaningless, systemic discrimination runs rampant, ruthless leaders start pointless wars, and the political system is broken.
These are very common views of the world held by our young adults. All these views are based on facts. Yes, climate change is real. Yes, housing in Australia is unnecessarily expensive. Yes, your job is unlikely to fill your life with meaning. Yes, discrimination against all types of people is occurring. Yes, wars are started. Yes, there is a lot in our political system that needs fixing.
You knew there was going to be a ‘but’, didn’t you? Well, here it is. But that’s not the whole picture.
Almost all longitudinal data shows that humanity is better off now than it was decades, centuries, or millennia ago.
In 1900, the global average life expectancy was only 31 years, now, it’s over 73 years. That’s largely because we improved the infant mortality rate dramatically. In 1960, 122 deaths occurred per 1,000 live births; today, that number dropped to 28. It might not seem like it sometimes, but we are getting much smarter. For example, the global literacy rate increased from 56 per cent in 1950 to 86 per cent in 2021. Human rights are also much improved. An ever-growing number of countries legislate equal treatment and protection for all citizens, regardless of race, gender or religion.
Look at one of my favourite charts below to see that no matter which poverty benchmark we look at, the average human is much better off now than they were just 30 years ago.
As we get richer, fewer humans experience chronic hunger. The number of undernourished people has fallen from 926 million in 2010 to 768 million in 2021 – in relative terms, the change has been even more impressive. I cannot stress enough how much we improved our capacity to feed humanity.
While senseless wars haven’t disappeared (as we can see in Ukraine every day), the number of wars and armed conflicts continues to fall. Most importantly, the number of battle-related deaths also continues to fall. Granted, our international organisations are nowhere near perfect. The world has, however, seen an increase in international cooperation and collaboration. Countries increasingly work together to address systemic global issues.
The energy of youth
What about the environment? What about the reluctance to tackle climate change? Sure, the world might improve for humans, but what about the other species?
Would you believe it, I am even optimistic about the environment in the long run. People across the world are becoming more aware of the impact their actions have on the environment. As these young, sustainably-minded people enter positions of leadership, global efforts to reduce pollution, protect natural resources and restore harmed ecosystems increase. We must remember that ecosystems (not the individual animals or plants but the systems) are resilient in the long term.
Let’s look at a few dramatic turnarounds that ecosystems have experienced.
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, the surrounding area was evacuated and became a ghost town. An unintended wildlife sanctuary was created. Wolves, boars, lynx, and local flora flourished. The Loess Plateau in China was severely affected by soil erosion and desertification due to overgrazing and deforestation. Authorities kickstarted a huge reforestation project in the 1990s, improving soil health, water retention and biodiversity.
Ecosystems can and will be revitalised. More and more people are dedicating their careers and businesses to carefully managing and improving ecosystems. Australia has plenty of wonderful homegrown examples like the Seabin Project.
Green future rising
Globally, the share of the population keen to act as responsible custodians of the environment is only increasing. The human population is peeking as soon as 2060. As humanity shrinks, fewer resources will eventually be needed. Efforts to re-wild and re-green the world will emerge at scale. In 100 years, humanity will be smaller, richer, healthier and run a more sustainable economy, and ecosystems will recover at scale.
On the way to such a future, we must proactively speed up the energy transition and the revitalisation of ecosystems while minimising human suffering. That means we must grow our economy to lift people out of poverty, hunger, and war.
This is where we return to our young people (Gen Z in particular). If you believe the world is broken beyond repair, you will suffer, you will be frozen into inaction, suffer poor mental health, and protest rather than proactively start new businesses and reshape the economy.
Nobody wishes this sense of pessimism on our young. Young people need a sense of optimism. They need to see that their efforts can create a better future. I honestly believe looking at longitudinal data can help. Throughout history, humanity collectively improved. Collectively we are richer, healthier, more peaceful, more environmentally aware and intellectually more capable than ever before. Gen Z is outrageously well-educated, tech-savvy, and capable of thinking systemically (granted, they are young and don’t know much stuff yet, but their intellectual framework is impressive).
Kids, get cracking
Human progress doesn’t move forward in a straight line. Evolution is beautiful, but it isn’t pretty. As we improve our society and planet, we often step sideways, we often step backwards too, but ultimately we’re moving forwards. I know it doesn’t always feel that way as we see suffering and destruction around us.
I want our young people to understand that the world is theirs for the taking, for reshaping, for the re-greening. Today’s youth enter the workforce at times of record-low unemployment. Consequently, they can demand high wages and can, to a large degree, dictate how “green” environmental practices should be. Dear young people, please don’t despair, please don’t get caught up in culture wars (these things will sort themselves out), please don’t obsess about deconstructing every single thing society ever achieved. Please focus instead on constructing greener and more sustainable businesses.
