The future is bright... If you want it to be.

Our world has gone through some of the greatest changes in the last 20 years. During this time we have seen billions of people globally being pulled from subject poverty, with the Worlds GDP growing a remarkable 450% since 1990. Countries such as China, India, Nigeria and many others becoming the benefactors in the globalised world we inhabit. For these reasons, it is why we have more Shopify experts in India than we have in the US, why China purchases 32% of the worlds Luxury goods (think Louis Vuitton, Rolex and Bentley) and why 50% of the entire luxury goods market is expected to be Chinese by 2025. The days of working in paddy fields have quickly been forgotten by a large percentage of the Chinese population.

But why is this important to recognise and understand?

The majority of the so-called 'western media' would still have you believe that the rest of the world lives in abject poverty despite roughly 5-8% of the world's population actually living in abject poverty. Another 6 billion people have also been removed from extreme poverty since 2000 (roughly 65% of the world's population). Those of us that have travelled extensively would have also discovered such phenomena; with some of us comparatively being the poorer party, to some of these destinations. Such perspective is important to mention, as it seems we rarely shed light on this incredible feat in the development of the human race. The so-called 'crisis' headlines that have embroiled us in strange arguments such as global warming, middle eastern affairs, Russia, socialism and the odd story we have been fed that the world somehow needs our help (despite many nations doing pretty well without us and our most recent interventions typically ending in disaster - think Afghanistan, Iraq etc). We have so many fantastic stories to tell from the last 20 years, so why do we choose to listen to these ones?

Christmas Day (25th of December) was another giant leap forward with the recent launching of NASA's James Webb telescope. Much like the world's population, this will take a huge step in the direction of improving the overall understanding of our universe. The telescope is 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble telescope. It will look to transmit pictures back from the beginning of time (nearly 13.8 billion years ago), along with equipment to better search for the existence of planetary life outside of our own planet and solar system. All aiding to progress our understanding of the universe and the world around us. Such milestones in human progress will also impact our ideas and technology here on earth.

Increasingly it becomes more evident that such negative headlines need to be avoided. Capitalism should be questioned, why should it not be. But at the expense of the billions, it has so far brought out of poverty? Global warming certainly should be discussed, but not based on a 'dystopian future' that the world is ending. The planet has been here for the last 4 1/2 billion years, we are merely its most recent inhabitants... And the last inhabitants, the dinosaurs lived in far warmer climates before their reign ended with an asteroid strike. Perspective as you see is everything.

In Elon Musks most recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, reiterated some of the real issues at play, rather than taking one of these popular headline narratives. His interview can only be interpreted as another desperate bid to call for more ideas, innovation and human talent. Specifically mentioning in his interview the great shortage of human capital. We are in short supply of such ideas and the courage that Elon Musk possesses. And without more of us stepping forward and taking this mantle, we risk losing future progress that undeniably needs to be made. Without such ideas, we run into the idea of stepping backwards, not forwards.

Mr Musk does not remain important because he builds electric cars and rockets; there are plenty of people doing this now. He remains important because of the future he has painted for us all. And this is why he has his disciples. Because in a world filled with negative media and government bureaucracy, we risk painting ourselves a less exciting future. The future can be as bright as we want it to be if we choose to take a different narrative and perspective. Mr Musk has certainly painted an exciting future, but we all need to start disseminating some of the truths I mentioned before if we are to live on a planet possible of creating an even brighter future. Because without this, we risk losing something far more important. A future and vision at all.