This surprising and desperately needed corrective shows that despite the present political turmoil, the world is better off than it ever has been thanks to centuries of intelligent reform--and the sooner we get back into this spirit of progress, the better off we'll be.
Anyone who watches the news knows that the world today is in a bad way: the rising tides of fascism, terrorism, and economic and environmental instability are destroying the fabric of civilization. Except, they're not.
In fact, the problems we feared in the mid-twentieth century look quaint today. Hunger?...