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By now, some of you will hardly be able to contain your protests.
读到这里，诸位当中有些恐怕已经克制不住要提出抗议了。
Surely the evidence of progress is all around us?
难道我们周围不到处都是进步的证据吗？
That is the case put forward in "It's Getting Better All the Time," by the late Julian Simon and Stephen Moore then at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C.
这正是已故的朱利安•西蒙和斯蒂芬•穆尔在“我们的生活越来越好”一文中提出的观点，他们当时在华盛顿一家自由派智褒团——凯托研究所工作。
Over almost 300 pages they show how vastly everyday life has improved in every way.
他们用将近300页的内容说明了人们日常生活的各个方面是如何得到了巨大的改进。
For aeons people lived to the age of just 25 or 30 and most parents could expect to mourn at least one of their children.
在历史漫长的岁月中，人一般只能活到25岁或30岁，而且多数父母都会痛失至少一个孩子。
Today people live to 65 and, in countries such as Japan and Canada, over 80;
今天，人们已经能够活到65岁，在日本和加拿大那样的国家，人们甚至能活到80多岁；
outside Africa, a child's death is mercifully rare.
幸运的是，在非洲以外的地方，婴儿的死亡已经非常罕见。
Global average income was for centuries about $200 a year;
几个世纪以来，全球人均年收入都只有大约200美元；
a typical inhabitant of one of the world's richer countries now earns that much in a day.
现在，在世界上较富裕的国家里，一个普通人一天就能挣到那么多。
In the Middle Ages about one in ten Europeans could read;
在中世纪，十个欧洲人中，大概只有一个人识字；
today, with a few exceptions, the global rate is comfortably above eight out of ten.
今天，除了少数例外，全球的识字人数比例很轻松地达到80%以上。
In much of the world, ordinary men and women can vote and find work, regardless of their race.
在世界大多数地方，不管是什么种族，普通的男女都有了选举权和工作权。
In large parts of it they can think and say what they choose.
大部分地方的人们有了思想和言论的自由。
If they fall ill, they will be treated.
假如他们病了，就能得到医治。
If they are innocent, they will generally walk free.
假如他们是清白罪的，他们一般都能行动自由。
