I know most of you know this, but in case the doom-and-gloom headlines and the rantings of lunatic pessimists are getting you down:
The world is not falling apart. The kinds of violence to which most people are vulnerable—homicide, rape, battering, child abuse—have been in steady decline in most of the world. Autocracy is giving way to democracy. Wars between states—by far the most destructive of all conflicts—are all but obsolete. The increase in the number and deadliness of civil wars since 2010 is circumscribed, puny in comparison with the decline that preceded it, and unlikely to escalate.
I think I've linked to this article before, but it's worth another look - "Cheer Up! 17 reasons it's a great time to be alive," among them:
