Are we better off now? or before WWII?

This post was inspired by the movie World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, where a deadly virus tunrs people basically into flesh eathing humans, or Zombies. In my mind, this is a very scary movie because of what I study. I study International Relations and Economics, which is basically relations with the whole world and how we are interconnected. Though, who cares that the Middle East is expereincing a lung disease that is incurbale right now, or the spread of Ebola. Did people forget about the Spanish Flu that almost wiped out 1/3 of the world population in the early 20th century. This is not what I want this post to be, but, for my generation are we really better off than people before WWII. Studies say yes, with advanced technology and advances in the medial field we are better off.

For some reason though it is tough to believe. My generation will be dealing with Global Warming, it isn't happening now, or in 10 years, but when I am 40-50, we could be right in the thick of it. Possibly overpopulation, I know in some developed countries, population is declinging, but, estimates show that by 2020 there will be 8-9 billion people in the world. Right now, there are about a billion people who live on a dollar a day, and almost 2 billion that live on less than $1.25. Though we produce enough food to feed the whole world, we do not, most food actually gets wasted, but if it hasn't happened now when we can I do not think we will be efficient enough to feed more than we can produce. With almost a billion more people coming into the world in such as short period, that means less land to cultivate food and more people we cannot feed because we do not have the land because more and more people are taking up land. Also, circle back around, with global wamring, climate change will definitely hinder cultivating food. It is a vicous cycle and it seems like the next thing just snowballs into the next. Is it worse now or before WWII though? 

To be honest, I do not know. I am just a 20 year old who lives in Cincinnati. But, the signs aren't good. Hopefully sustainability catches on, hopefully in the next election for the U.S, instead of hearing about pointless debates on taxes, he/she did this or that, or how many $$ the campaign used. I want to hear about infrastrucuture and how we are preparing for the future, or sustainability and food security. Do you know the world is more likely to go crazy and fight a war because of water instead immigration? Their are countries in Africa right now going to war just because of a watering hole and that is the difference between life and death for them. What happnes on a larger scale. 

It is crazy to think about, but, these are the problems I study on a daily basis. To me, their is a solution, and I hope I can be a part of the solution, but also I want to spread the word. I know everyone has their opinion on why America is falling behind (which we are not really), but, one of the reasons we could is not being educated about whats going on in the world or domestically. Though it may not seem like it that a farmer in Brazil who is broke because of a severe drought may not affect us, but it does and it is interconnected. Most of our produce and food now comes from Brazil. It is a cycle. It is a zero-sum world and no one will benefit.