system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Living standards will decline in the future

The past century is overall a success for humanity, as poverty rates declined while literacy rates and life expectancy improved. However, we face multiple challenges in the future that I believe will negate improvements in our quality of life due to development and technology improvements.

The first, obvious challenge is climate change. While it won't end humanity, it would certainly exacerbate existing problems. It is quite likely parts of India, the middle east, Africa and Central America will become nearly uninhabitable due to heatwaves and water shortages. This will trigger more conflicts and likely a refugee crisis that would make the ones in Europe and the US southern border look tame.  At the same time, countries will have to deal with rising seas, which threaten some major cities and would cause severe economic damage. If this was the only of our problems, we may be able to handle it but there are several more which the media do not adequately discuss.

The current period of economic expansion will eventually end. However, most countries do not have the maneuvering room they did in 2008. Interest rates are already low and most governments are running a deficit and have high debt, so there is also less room for fiscal stimulus. In fact, it is plausible the US or some other major economy may be faced with a debt crisis since their aging populations force them to spend an increasing amount on pensions and healthcare. In all, it seems the next economic crisis will be especially painful for my generation as it would be more severe and have a slower recovery.

Automation is also a concern. The technology improvements would boost the economy but would also displace millions of workers such as drivers and cashiers. It would probably further increase inequality as well. From the research I have read, it is disputed whether automation will result in a net gain or loss in jobs but either way, the job displacements will be a huge social crisis which needs to be addressed within the next decade.

These challenges requires competent governments. Unfortunately, authoritarian governments need to control the narrative to survive so they are unable to deal with their mistakes. Western democracies are crippled by increasing polarization so they have difficulty making reasoned, informed decisions. Instead we get populists who advocate policies that are "neat, simple and wrong".

The combined effect of these problems may be enough to reverse the gains we have made. I try my best to remain optimistic but thinking about these problems make it difficult. What have I missed in my analysis that would make the future seem less grim?
gpt
Book recommendation. Factfulness by Hans Rosling. He’s the guy that, after 14 of consulting with the World Bank, finally got them to stop using the term developing countries. It is the USA and other nations at the top of the inequality curve that are grappling with living standards, and we project our histrionics on the globe. The book goes into perceptual biases that are obscuring phenomenal progress globally overall. Check it out? Stand in a bookstore and read the introduction?