Why Today is Better than 20 years ago

While there seems to be plenty of news about everything going wrong in the world, I thought I would share a few things I've come across that show why we have it better today than 20 years ago.

Flying is Safer
Air travel is 7 times safer today than it was 20 years ago! [1]  One of the reasons is due to sophisticated aircraft simulators used to train pilots.  Pilots now experience realistic scenarios and learn how to react while putting no one at risk.

Driving is Safer
Driving is about 40% safer today than it was 25 years ago (17 times safer than it was in 1920!) [2]  This doesn't surprise me considering that I used to "surf" in the back of Mom's station wagon and now I'm surrounded by air bags and I have "stop-on-a-dime" brakes.  It is impressive considering that speed limits have increased by 10-20 MPH.

Cancer Rates are Dropping
Cancer deaths and rate of incidence has dropped about 20% over the last 20 years! [3][4]  Note that this isn't just better treatment; fewer people are getting cancer thanks to changes in habits and other environmental changes.

The Internet
The Internet was basically non-existent 20 years ago.  Shopping, banking, catching up with friends, movies, music, libraries, etc. are now available.  The world has changed (I think for the better).[5]

Mobile Phones
Mobile Phones were big, bulky and expensive 20 years ago.


Do you know of any other reasons today is better than 1990?