In Peter H. Diamandis “Abundance,” Diamandis included about 80 charts showing strong evidence of the progress in the world. The topic I chose is Increasing Happiness and Increasing Equality. I found it very interesting how they chose to graph something as subjective as happiness. The first graph, Annual Hours Worked per Person (1870-1978), shows a 50% reduction in hours worked per person in the United States, France, Japan, and Brazil. The graph shows the annual hours worked per person steadily decreasing from the mid to late 1800s. I believe this trend represents actual change because spending less hours at work allows for people to spend more time with their families and on other hobbies, increasing their overall happiness. The next graph displays the Number of Democracies, the number of democracies has increased in an upward trend. This trend represents actual change because democracies allow for a free and equitable society, where everyone is represented equally and has the freedoms essential to a healthy and strong civil society.
The Percentage of Slaves or Serfs in the World graph shows a decreasing trend over time. From 1750 the percentage of slaves or serfs dropped from 75% to 10% in 2000. I believe this trend represents real change for happiness and equity. Slavery and forced labor strip human beings of their inherent rights and violate their human rights. A decrease in slavery means more freedom, freedom being a distinct element of happiness.
The Percentage of Degrees Awarded to Women graph shows the percentage of degrees increasing over the years. I believe this trend represents actual change because women are getting access to equal opportunity. This impacts their opportunities and future earnings, and thus impacts their happiness. However, it’s important to note that this progress is not global and that developing countries with less opportunities for women are unaccounted for in this graph as it only represents the United States.
The Closing the Gender Earnings Gap graph has some trends regarding progress for happiness and equality. The graph shows the ratio of male to female of the age range 45-64 years to be increasing slightly from 1993 to 2011. The ratio for 25-44 years has been mostly constant throughout the years. The ratio for 15-24 years has slowly decreased over time. I believe this graph does represent change, however it is not as significant as the others. Infact, the lower age range had a decrease in progress while the older age range had more progress.
For the Are Tech Savvy Countries Happier graph, the high tech countries, such as the US, had higher happiness levels while the low tech countries, such as Tanzania, had lower happiness levels. Wealthier countries would be more tech savvy and have a disadvantage as wealth increases happiness and equality. I believe this trend represents actual change because it allows researchers to target the countries with low tech and provide them with the resources to boost happiness globally.
For the Homemakers’ Use of Time graph, there is a steady decrease in the hours of work per week from 1900 to 1975. There is also a steady increase in free time. Both work and free time were almost equal in 1975. I believe this trend represents actual change because a balance between work and free time provides more time to spend with your family and friends, the happier a person is.
For the How Often Do You Shower in the Winter graph, the percentage of the US population that showers once a week has decreased from 17% to 1% and the percentage of the population that showers once a day has increased from 29% to 75%. I think this trend represents actual change because it shows how more people can shower more often in the winter due to advanced technology and heating. This ability to be clean, increases overall happiness.
The Weekly Work Hours graph shows the work hours of full time production workers in non-agricultural activities in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and France, decreasing overtime from 1870 to 2000. Overall, the rate at which each country’s work hours declined is equal over the timespan. I believe this trend represents real change because less time working allows for more time to do other things. This increases happiness and equality.
Lastly, Sen believes that people must have social, economic, and political freedoms that allow them to lead the lives they have reason to live to create and create real progress in happiness and equality. I believe the barriers to progress would be a lack of data or access to data, lack of technology, and governmental oppression, all of them setting their societies back.