World Getting Better? Depends

I finally finished Charles Kenny's "Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding – And How We Can Improve the World Even More".  We bought the book when he spoke at the "Confronting Global Poverty" lecture Series of the Alworth Center for Peace and Justice at St. Scholastica in Duluth on Nov. 13, 2012.  You can watch his lecture here.

Many were disappointed in his talk and book because they thought he was painting a rosier picture than reality.  Kenny's thesis is that we should concern ourselves less with increasing GDP and look more at quality of life measures.

These include health, longevity, education, child mortality, and family size.  He claims that throughout the world with a couple of notorious exceptions, the first four measures are getting greater and the last less.  Rather than look at the number of roads and dams, we should look at how people are living day-to-day and what they and we can do to improve daily life.

For an example of a low-tech solution that improved the lives of trash pickers in India, see "Out of India's Trash Heaps, More Than a Shred of Dignity", Sarika Bansal, New York Times, 2013-06-12 .  Do read some of the comments.

Quote of the day, make longer plans

The other day my wife was wondering with a cousin on how old their grandfather was when he died.  He was Dr. Frederick L. Smith of the Mayo Clinic; I should be able to find something with Google.  As it was, very little and no obituary.  But I did find quite a few other Fred Smiths.  This one was in "Christianity Today" by a Fred Smith who was dying and ready for it.

"I used to lecture with a psychiatrist. He was at our home on my 50th birthday and said, 'Now that you're 50, make longer plans.' I said, 'Now I know why you're a psychiatrist, you're nuts.' He said, 'No, when you start making shorter plans, your subconscious is telling you to die.' "

Now I know why I want to cut down trees and plant trees, clear paths and lay down chips, and many other projects in Brimson.  I probably wouldn't get done all of what I dream if I live twice my current age (72).