Evidence of progress (the series)

Human material progress is a fact, not an opinion, so why deny it?

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As of this article’s publication date, I have been writing on Substack for about 1.5 years. During that time, I have written just over 400 articles on many topics. In contrast to the vast majority of Substack columns, almost all my articles are tied together by a common theme: human material progress:

• what it is,

• how it has transformed our lives (largely for the better)

• when and where it started

• what caused it,

• how progress spread throughout the world,

• how we can keep it going,

• how poorer nations and individuals can experience the same progress, and

• who is against progress or at least skeptical of its existence.

I guess Substack readers enjoy reading my articles as subscriptions are growing fast. Thank you all for using your scarce time to read my articles.

Unfortunately, the organization of Substack is not optimized for new readers joining an existing Substack column with as many articles as mine. It is easy for new readers to get overwhelmed by the number of articles and just read the most recently published article. If you do so, I fear that you will miss my most important arguments.

To make up for this, I will be publishing a series of “Table of Contents” articles over the coming weeks. Each will consist of a sequential list of articles on a specific sub-topic related to human material progress. I try to make each article self-standing, but I would recommend reading the articles in the displayed order.

Enjoy reading!

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Table of Contents for the “Evidence of Progress” series

1. Evidence of progress: intro

2. Countering objections to the concept of progress

3. Evidence for progress: Per capita GDP

4. Evidence for progress: UN Human Development Index

5. Evidence for progress: UN Human Development Index (podcast)

6. Evidence for Progress: UN Human Development Index (video)

7. Evidence for progress: Declining global poverty rates

8. Evidence for progress: Declining global poverty rates (video)

9. Evidence for Progress: Long-term trends in per capita GDP (video)

10. Evidence for Progress: Long-term trends in per capita GDP (podcast)

11. Evidence for Progress: Growth in per capita GDP 2012-2022 (video)

12. Evidence for Progress: Growth in per capita GDP 2012-2022 (podcast)

13. Does material progress lead to happiness?

14. Does material progress lead to happiness? (video)

15. Does material progress lead to happiness? (podcast)

If the above is not enough, then look at the metrics of economic growth, human development, freedom, slavery, poverty, agricultural production, literacy, diet, famines, sanitation, drinking water, life expectancy, neonatal mortality, disease, education, access to electricity, housing, and violence (to name just a few), and in virtually every nation. And there are plenty more in my book.

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If you enjoyed reading this series of articles, you might also be interested in reading my “From Poverty to Progress” book series: