Sometimes, when climbing a steep mountain, it is important to stop and look back, to notice how far you’ve come and summon your courage to continue.  Likewise, the challenges ahead for humanity seem daunting when listening to the daily news, but surely there’s been tremendous progress.  The pictures in the attachment speak volumes about our advances over two centuries. Some are merely interesting, some are heart wrenching, all are worth seeing. Most of them, by the way,  were made when people truly believed there wasn’t enough to go around on planet Earth.

By coincidence, some other information came to my attention that sheds light on our progress as a species.  John Mackey, in Conscious Capitalism reminds us that “85% of the globe lived in extreme poverty just 200 years ago.  Today that number is 16%. Life expectancy has more than doubled and individual freedom has bloomed.”

Through technology, invention and the release of our inborn genius, there can be plenty for all, if we make good choices and course corrections in time.

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