Forget the Doom and Gloom — Here’s Why We’re Actually Living in the Best Time in Human History

Open a news site and you’ll be forgiven for thinking civilisation is sliding off a cliff.

We’re told property is unaffordable, inflation is destroying household budgets, geopolitical tensions are rising, and technology is coming for our jobs.

If you take the headlines at face value, the world seems chaotic and uncertain.

Yet step back, widen the lens, and a very different picture emerges.

Measured properly, by health, longevity, safety, education, innovation, equality, opportunity, and human wellbeing,  there has never been a better time to be alive.

This isn’t  just an optimistic spin, it’s simply the reality that most of us have forgotten to notice.

As leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher put it in our latest conversation in the Demographics Decoded podcast:

“History is a story of more or less continued progress… If I was asked where in history I would want to live, the answer must always be the present day.”

So, let’s explore why this moment in time, for all its imperfections, remains the most advantageous era for Australians, business owners, investors, and families who want to build wealth and secure a better future.

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We’re living dramatically longer and better

If you want a single indicator of human progress, choose life expectancy.

Today in Australia, the typical lifespan is around 85 years. Go back to 1900, and it was around 55.

We’ve gained 30 extra years of life in just over a century.

As Simon puts it:

“These are unheard-of advances. Just think about your life ending at 85 rather than 55. That is huge.”

But it’s not just the quantity of life; it’s quality. People in their 60s and 70s today travel, work, volunteer, start businesses, exercise and engage socially in ways that previous generations simply couldn’t.

Medical breakthroughs that were once science fiction are now routine:

• stents

• hip replacements

• heart bypasses

• pacemakers

• keyhole surgery

• advanced cancer treatments

Both my father and grandfather died of heart attacks. Today, they would likely have had a stent inserted and returned home within days. That alone speaks volumes.

We are healthier, more active and far more medically supported than ever before.

Extreme poverty has collapsed, even as the world population soared

This is one of the great untold stories of our lifetime.

In 1990, 2 billion people lived in extreme poverty. Today, around 700 million do.

That’s still far too many, but the reduction, especially while the population grew, is astonishing.

Simon explained it clearly:

“We did lift the overall level of wealth in the world. The largest emergence of a middle class in human history occurred particularly in Asia.”

This is the most powerful poverty-reduction event in human history.

Education levels have skyrocketed, especially for women

In 1950, 64% of the world was illiterate. Today it’s 12%.

That transformation alone reshaped everything, economies, health, human rights, political stability and innovation.

As Simon highlighted:

“Going from 64% to 12% illiterate in one human lifetime is awesome.”

And the most meaningful shift has been the rise of women’s education globally.

• More girls finish school

• More women attend university

• More women enter skilled professions

• More women have economic independence

• More women participate in public life

Educating women is widely recognised as the single most powerful force for reducing poverty and improving society.

When women are educated:

• families are healthier

• children stay in school

• incomes rise

• economies grow

• communities stabilise

We underestimate the scale, and significance of this progress.

Social inclusion and equality have advanced faster than ever

Think of just the last 20–30 years:

• Gender equality has improved dramatically

• LGBTQ+ rights are legally recognised

• Disability access and inclusion have expanded

• Racial discrimination is challenged openly

• Mental health is part of mainstream healthcare

• Harassment and workplace misconduct are taken seriously

Australia, in particular, has created a cultural environment where these conversations can happen peacefully and constructively.

Simon noted:

“We become more inclusive… and Australia creates a container where these battles can be fought peacefully.”

Is everything perfect? Of course not. But the direction of progress is unmistakable, and it’s upward.

Technology is creating more opportunity than disruption

Every generation fears the new technology of its time.

But technology has overwhelmingly improved human life.

Simon puts it nicely:

“Technology so far has made our life better… I’m not convinced we ever create a world where robots do all the stuff worth doing.”

Technology has:

• reduced prices

• improved productivity

• made healthcare more effective

• made workplaces safer

• connected us globally

• enabled remote work

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• provided free access to information

• created entirely new industries

And the convenience is astonishing:

• music on demand

• movies on demand

• meals delivered in minutes

• online medical appointments

• research available instantly

• groceries straight to your door

• flights cheaper than ever

These aren’t small improvements, they fundamentally reshape how we live.

The world is safer than we think

No one watching the news would believe this, but long-term trends don’t lie.

War-related deaths, despite recent upticks, remain historically low.

Violent crime has fallen dramatically across developed countries.

Air travel is safer than ever.

Food safety standards are world-class.

Children’s mortality rates have collapsed.

We often mistake visibility of tragedy for frequency.

Just because we see every problem instantly doesn’t mean problems are worse, it just means information is faster.

Convenience has quietly become one of our greatest luxuries

Sometimes the most profound changes are the ones we barely notice anymore.

Think about what life looked like in the 1980s or 1990s:

• no internet

• no smartphones

• no GPS

• limited TV channels

• long queues for banking

• slow communications

• travel was expensive

• research required libraries

• photography required film

• music required physical media

Today, Simon joked about it perfectly:

“Any song you ever listened to — one second on Spotify and it’s there.”

We operate with conveniences that previous generations couldn’t have even imagined.

This isn’t trivial, it gives us time, freedom, mobility and access to opportunity.

So what does all this mean for Australians and investors?

This environment, longer lives, better education, greater inclusion, rising prosperity, technological power and global opportunity, is fertile ground for building wealth.

For property investors, it means:

• A growing population

• A better-educated workforce

• Increased demand for quality housing

• Stronger long-term capital growth

• Greater urbanisation

• Increased migration

• Higher lifetime earnings

• Stronger rental markets

For business owners, it means:

• A larger customer base

• A more skilled labour pool

• Access to global markets

• Unlimited information

• Better tools

• Lower barriers to entry

For families, it means opportunity -  real, practical opportunity, for those who seize it.

With all this progress, the danger is assuming it’s automatic.

Simon summed it up well:

“Progress doesn’t just happen magically… teams of people fought for these advances.”

The world gets better because people do the work: investing, learning, building, planning, innovating and improving.

The biggest mistake people make today?

Complaining instead of contributing.

Watching instead of acting.

Hesitating instead of planning.

These are the good old days, you just don’t know it yet

Decades from now, people will look back at this very moment and say:

• “Life was good back then.”

• “We didn’t realise how lucky we were.”

• “There were so many opportunities.”

• “Things were safer and richer and healthier than we thought.”

And the question isn’t “Is the world perfect?” It never will be.

The question is: What are you doing with the extraordinary era you’re living in?

If you’d like help building long-term wealth safely and strategically,  and making the most of this remarkable time in history, my team at Metropole would love to help you create a personalised plan.

Because living in the best time in human history is only an advantage if you decide to use it.

If you found this discussion helpful, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and share it with others who might benefit.

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