I'll be presenting “It's Brighter Than It Looks,” “Reasons to Look Forward To the Future” at TEDxHawkesbury, Sydney, “Unbreak The Future,” April 18th, 2026
05.02.2026 23:08
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I'll be presenting “It's Brighter Than It Looks,” “Reasons to Look Forward To the Future” at TEDxHawkesbury, Sydney, “Unbreak The Future,” April 18th, 2026
This doesn’t get enough airtime — “where a century ago only seven countries had a life expectancy over 60 years, today just six fall below 60 years.” — It’s Brighter Than It Looks, excerpt from TEDxHawkesbury, April 18th, 2026
“USA 1.0 Was a Disaster You Never Learned About” — @johnnywharris youtu.be/nSBbX5gn1Lg?... 🗽
“Left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” — Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Carrington, 1787
“Are they literally trying to make it impossible to run a business?” MacDonald asked me. Because “that’s how it feels.”
How the Grinch stole free trade. “Donald Trump’s War on Christmas — It’s a bad year for shoppers. It’s a terrible year for small-business owners.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
TLDW: It's a combination of innovation and the protection of property rights, and the balance between the two. “The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics: Explained” — Economics Explained youtu.be/u4hZAMp25s4?... ⚖️
“Yet while getting no respect, free markets – or “capitalism” – have delivered exceptional results over a period spanning more than 200 years and reaching around the globe to every country where they’ve been tried.” — Matthew Lau
E22: “Pears grown in Argentina, packed in Thailand and sold in the United States” — How international trade drives progress, a call for free markets, "The Engine of Progress," how the media is misrepresenting our risk of death, and much more. www.theupwing.com/edition22/
“But the facts are clear: There can be enough for everyone. The data tell us that lives are better now than lives were in the past—even though there are now many more lives around. Fears of a depleted, overpopulated future are out of date.”
E21: In defence of neoliberalism, most people think life is likely to get better, mining for progress, and more: Edition 21, Tony Morley for The Up Wing newsletter; progress delivered. www.theupwing.com/edition21/
Despite what you hear in the news, from the United States to Nigeria; and from Indonesia to India — "most people are fairly optimistic that their lives will improve" ourworldindata.org/data-insight...
"So, if you’re willing to make exceptions to free speech for people you don’t like … well, that’s no longer free speech." — The First Amendment is More Radical Than You May Think youtu.be/SwZdPN83fsE?...
“Which means anytime we think about giving Washington more power to restrict speech, we ought to ask, “How would I feel if my least favorite politician was the one deciding which thoughts could land me in jail?” — Why free speech matters, Kite and Key Media
“The entire procedure takes 12 to 18 hours. One injection seems to be enough to permanently lower levels of mutant huntingtin in the brain.” “This could be a major breakthrough,”
A new breakthrough gene therapy has shown dramatic results in the world’s first treatment for Huntington's disease. The new drug reduced the progression of Huntington symptoms by 75% over 3 years in a small test group. www.newscientist.com/article/2497...
Pew estimates a total of 47,000 gun-related deaths in the United States in 2023. By contrast, the 2022 heatwave in Europe resulted in 61,000 heat-related deaths. If you care about life, air conditioners are more effective at saving lives than almost anyone realises.
“The mortality impact of extremely hot days fell by 75 percent in the United States between 1960 and 2004, driven primarily by the adoption of residential air conditioning (AC).” — Rising temperatures don't necessarily mean rising death rates. newsletter.humanprogress.org/p/half-baked... ❄️
“The higher estimates of extreme poverty reflect a higher poverty threshold, not that the world is poorer. In fact, the latest data shows that incomes among the world’s poorest are actually higher than previously estimated.” ourworldindata.org/data-insight...
In 1990, 37.6% of the global population survived on just $1—$3/day, by 2025, that ratio has fallen to just 8.5%, and continues to decline. Economic growth, trade and globalisation have been the unprecedented principal drivers of this progress. “The world has not gotten poorer.”
“Yes, there are lives that we all should work to improve. But the chances for a good life for a child are at least as high now as they have ever been, in all of human history.” afterthespike.com
“The gloomy view that most lives in the future won’t be worth living. That gloomy view about the prospects for humanity’s future relative to humanity’s present is often rooted in a misunderstanding of wellbeing in humanity’s present relative to humanity’s past.”
“But the facts are clear: There can be enough for everyone. The data tell us that lives are better now than lives were in the past—even though there are now many more lives around. Fears of a depleted, overpopulated future are out of date.” — Dr. Michael Geruso and Dr. Dean Spears
“We're going to pander to the evil? No. What makes the West great is that we do good after evil, not evil after evil.” — Charlie Kirk www.theupwing.com/edition20/
E20: “Good vs Evil” — the best podcast episode of the year, declining global poverty, crop yields continue to increase through 2025 and more. Edition 20, Tony Morley for The Up Wing newsletter; progress delivered.
“It’s not uncommon for people to tell me that global food production is already collapsing due to climate change. They are then surprised to hear that we typically hit record harvests year after year (even as things get hotter).” www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/food-proje...
“Most crops, with the exception of sorghum and millet, have seen steady increases over the past 60 years, and that trend is expected to continue this year.” — The world is on track for record harvests this year Hannah Ritchie 🌽
It turns out, he's not wrong. Between 1800 and 2025, global extreme poverty decreased from 90% to approximately 9%. See, The Capitalist Manifesto by Johan Norberg atlantic-books.co.uk/book/the-cap...
“My next claim is that capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other system.” — 1 Capitalist vs 20 Anti-Capitalists Patrick Bet-David youtu.be/cwSXDr7XkNc?... 📈
The United States is taking in billions in tariffs, paid for by Americans, to the tune of $642 million a day, every day. Americans are taxing themselves to pay themselves. youtu.be/w2HBhjcAtLM?... 📦