Lately, it feels like the news has been dominated by tragedies: natural disasters, evil people, and sometimes just carelessness.

But it would be a mistake to become cynical.

We've put together 31 charts that we think will help restore your faith in humanity.

1) We've stopped fighting each other.

Systemic Peace



2) Democracy's in. Autocracy's out.

Systemic Peace



3) Slavery is disappearing.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



4) Everyone's working way less.

"The Improving State of the World" (c) Cato Institute 2007. Used with permission



5) We have more money to spend on leisure.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



6) Illiteracy in America has been obliterated.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



7) People used to die at 47. Now people are living to 77.



It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



8) Preventable illness are under control.

Reddit



9) People with cancer are living longer.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



10) Fewer and fewer people are dying from guns.

Pew



11) And we're shooting each other less.

Pew



12) Global poverty is on the wane.

"The Improving State of the World" (c) Cato Institute 2007. Used with permission.



13) In the U.S., mothers have stopped dying in childbirth.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



14) Smoking has declined.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



15) Infant mortality is collapsing.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



16) Malaria is going away as research spending rises.

Economist



17) Infectious diseases in the U.S. are pretty much gone.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



18) People now take showers all the time.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



19) And they brush their teeth.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



20) All U.S. homes are electrified, as power costs have dropped.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



21) More efficient or more environmentally friendly energy sources continue to win out.

Citi



22) Pittsburgh is no longer a single massive smokestack.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



23) Everyone is staying in school longer.

"The Improving State of the World" (c) Cato Institute 2007. Used with permission



24) Women's education has more than caught up.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



25) Women aren't stuck at home anymore.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



26) Gadgets you can't live without are now way cheap.

FCC



27) Computers are getting crazy fast.

Wikimedia



28) It's never been cheaper to fly.

It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



29) Or safer. It's Getting Better All The Time / Stephen Moore & Julian Simon



30) You're getting a lot farther on a gallon of gas.

Securing America’s Future Energy



BONUS: It takes less and less time to buy all kinds of stuff. A bicycle in 1895 used to take 260 working hours to buy. By 1997 it was down to 7.2.



(Special thanks to Cato Institute's "Improving State of the World" for some of the charts)