Is poverty increasing around the globe? Has our quality of life decreased over the past decades? Is democracy on the retreat? Is there even more violence today than there has ever been before? Certainly not, says sociologist Martin Schröder, and by referring to numerous studies, statistics, and anecdotes, he shows us that we’ve never been doing as well as we are today—even tough spin doctors keep trying to convince us of the opposite. An informative and simultaneously entertaining appeal to look ahead with optimism.

The best answer to the question of which point in the history of humankind one would have liked to be born is simultaneously the most surprising: today. Because never before have such a great number of people been leading such a long, safe, and comfortable life. Dozens of indications on wealth, democracy, violence, and quality of life prove that the world is becoming better in almost every regard. And still, everyone is talking about crises and the pessimists are dominating the headlines.

Martin Schröder, Professor of Sociology and an expert on social inequality, shows in a vivid way that everything was by no means better back in the day. That, on the contrary, we are doing better than ever and that the future can become even better still—if we stop breaking into a blind panic all the time.