Letters to the Editor
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Why Optimism?
There seems to be a few comments that state that the authors are wrong to be optimistic. This reminded me of a similar discussion of a few months back when there was article about the book re: what it would be like on Earth if humans were extinct. Many posters almost seemed to be pro-extinction. I think part of that discussion is relavant here.
The reason for optimism is that things have never been better than they are now and they are far more likely to be better in the future. Comments to support:
-Slavery, gone.
-Starvation, mostly gone (where it exists, it is usually because of government action, not "nature getting back at us").
-Health, longest average lifespans ever. Enough to cause people to have fewer kids *by choice* not by oppressive government action like in China (how any of you can express admiration for the actions of the Chinese government since 1949 is beyond me...millions of people were murdered)
-Education/Art/Self-fulfillment, never more free or open to all people than now.
A major part of achieving the above is modernization and urbanization. The environment is best taken care of where people are wealthy. Poor countries abuse it the most. Birth rates drop *by choice* when people live in cities. Using government coercion to force people to not have families is evil.
Our best hope is to protect individual freedom because that is the real driver of human progress. Progress is real and we are living it now.