Tag: life expectancy

Ageing gracefully

For much of my life I felt that I was going to this life forever. O.K., I knew that I would have to die someday, but that seemed in the far distant future.

Then 13 years ago, at the age of 59, I had a stroke and came face to face with my mortality. I could have died then.  I also had a blood clot on my lungs which was even more likely to have killed me.  I came out of hospital in a wheelchair but I have largely recovered, to about 80% of my former physical abilities. Continue reading “Ageing gracefully”

You’ve never had it so good

war deaths
Contrary to common perception, the number of people dying through war and conflict has drastically reduced.

Pessimists and scare-mongerers like to say that the world is getting worse and worse. The opposite is true. Television news and newspapers make us more aware of problems throughout the world but statistics paint a very different picture. As Harold Macmillan said back in 1957,  “Most of our people have never had it so good”. Extreme poverty is reducing, diseases are being eliminated, fewer people are dying because of war and life expectancy is improving. If you want a fuller picture, read on. Continue reading “You’ve never had it so good”

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