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Comedian Louis C.K. does a great skit showing how oblivious we can be when complaining about our lives.

We get frustrated when our cell phone reception goes out for 30 seconds without realizing how amazing cell phone technology is. "Can you give it a second?" Louis asks. "It's going to space. Can you give a second to get back from space?"

"The worst cell phone in the world is a miracle," he says. "Why are you so mad at it?"

It's a wise question to ask. When something doesn't work perfectly but is still much better than it used to be, you are better off. Our perceptions and emotions play an evil trick by convincing us otherwise.

"Everything is amazing and nobody is happy," Louis says.

This could apply to the U.S. economy, too.

Everywhere you go these days, gloom wins.

"Jump in percentage of those saying things not going well," reads one headline.

"Americans see more doom and gloom in the economy," writes another.

"Americans Are Pessimistic, Miserable and Completely Fed Up," warns another.

A lot of Americans are in bad shape. Their problems are worse than bad cell phone service. They're unemployed, uninsured, underpaid, underappreciated, overmedicated, and overpromised.


But this is nothing new. It has always been true. And by most measures, most Americans live in a better, safer, more prosperous world today than they could have dreamed of a few decades ago.

The average American born in 1950 could expect to live to age 68. The average American born in 2010 can expect to live to almost 79.

Think about that: In two generations, the average American gained a decade of life expectancy.

Do you know what can happen in a decade? A little more than 10 years ago, AOL dominated the Internet, oil cost $13 a barrel, Fortune magazine named Enron one of America's "most admired corporations," and Apple was a joke. Everything can change, in other words. You get an extra one of those now.

Minorities have made even greater progress. African Americans have gained 15 years of life expectancy since 1950.

Odds are this will continue. Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey thinks the first person to live to see their 150th birthday is already alive. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll joked, "Americans have come to view death as optional."

The biggest reason life expectancy has gone up is because childhood mortality has plunged, from 32 per 1,000 in 1950, to 19 in 1970, all the way down to six in 2012.

How often do we have BREAKING NEWS when stocks fall half a percent? Several times a week. But no one ever says, "Breaking news: Far Fewer Children are Dying Than Used To." We ignore the really important news because it happens slowly, but we obsess over trivial news because it happens all day long. This is another evil trick our minds (and media) play on us.

Not only are fewer children dying, but older Americans are experiencing something they couldn't dream about a few decades ago: retirement.

Think of it this way: The average American now retires at age 62. One hundred years ago, the average American died at age 51.

Poverty among the elderly has plunged, too. More than a quarter of those over age 65 were living in poverty in the 1960s, compared with less than 10% today. Medicare has only been around since the 1960s. Before that, as one 1963 Social Security report put it, "paying for necessary health services and providing adequate insurance for non-budgetable expenses remains beyond the economic capabilities of most aged persons."

he list goes on and on:

• In 1950, the average household spent 30% of its budget on food. Today, less than 13% of an average budget has to be devoted to food.
• High school graduation rates are at the highest level in 40 years.
• Traffic deaths per 100,000 people have fallen by half since the 1960s.
• The median new home today is 34% larger today than it was 25 years ago.
• 49% of new homes had air conditioning in 1973. Today, 89% do.
• Nearly 30% of Americans over age 25 have a bachelor's degree. In the 1960s, less than 10% did.

I'm not arguing that inefficiencies, injustices, and inequalities don't exist today. Of course, they do. But they always have, and by comparison, we are living in one of the most prosperous times in the history of this world.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

-- Morgan Housel