Why The World Does Not Suck

[Ad Orientem]

...In 31 Charts.
http://au.businessinsider.com/charts-th ... ity-2013-5

As glad as I am for the decline in slavery, I must concede that #18 was the one that really made me smile.

[Kriegsspiel]

Yea #22!

[MediumTex]

There isn't nearly as much money to be made talking about what is right with the world as there is talking about what is wrong with the world.

I heard a religious leader the other day talking about how the world today is worse than it's ever been in history.  As I thought about how much money he made sharing this message and how he undoubtedly lived in a very nice house, drove a very nice car and generally lived a very comfortable life, I just thought to myself "What an idiot."

[Gosso]

Louis CK: "Everything's amazing, and nobody's happy" (4:12)

Living with a sense of amazement/wonder seems to help, although I'll draw the line at "double rainbow guy".

Also, from the Gospel of Thomas:

[quote=Gospel of Thomas]113. His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"

"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it."[/quote]

[Pointedstick]

It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes. Also available as a free eBook from the LvMI.

[Gosso]

Agent Smith:

"Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization."

[Kriegsspiel]

"Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."

-Tyler Durden

[MediumTex]

"Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."

-Tyler Durden

"Without the pain and sacrifice that have led them to have something, our clients would have nothing for us to steal."

-Goldman Sachs partner talking in a bar

[cnh]

Okay, permit me to be the long-winded cynic at the party. My general reaction to the charts: When the unit of measure on the Y-axis reads "Summed Authority Scores," or words to that effect, I have a hard time paying much attention to the rest of the message.  I'm not sure whom to credit, but the risk of "Figures lying and liars figuring" seems high under the circumstances.

...In 31 Charts.
http://au.businessinsider.com/charts-th ... ity-2013-5

As glad as I am for the decline in slavery, I must concede that #18 was the one that really made me smile.

Nice! Chart 18 definitely looks like progress, but does it strike anyone else as odd (and smelly) that in 1999 24% of America still bathed or showered LESS THAN once per week, even in winter.

Agent Smith:

"Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization."

Apropos...but my all-time favorite Agent Smith line: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."

And finally...

"Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."

-Tyler Durden

"Without the pain and sacrifice that have led them to have something, our clients would have nothing for us to steal."

-Goldman Sachs partner talking in a bar

Had me LOL.

[Gosso]

Apropos...but my all-time favorite Agent Smith line: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."

Ha!  Another good one.  That Agent Smith sure has us pegged.