A Debate: Is Our World Getting Better?

Some people are reluctant to have children because they worry about the world their kids will live in: war, terrorism, ever more fierce competition, the next generation of AIDS, etc. Is the world really going to be net worse or better?
Other people, in making their long-term investments and business decisions wonder whether to be optimsitic about our future.

All of us, if only for our psychological well-being, would like to be able to conclude that the world is getting better. But we don't want to delude ourselves.

So my PsychologyToday.com article today offers an internal debate on whether life will be getting better.