Is the world falling apart? Bill Gates says that it’s never been better — and he’s out to prove it

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Bill Gates gets a firsthand look at some of the world’s gnarliest problems through his philanthropic work attempting to eradicate disease and improve the quality of life in developing parts of the world. The Microsoft co-founder would probably get a pass if there were days when he just wanted to stay in bed.

But Gates strikes quite the opposite tone in a new post on his Gates Notes blog, writing that despite natural disasters, the threat of nuclear war with North Korea, civil war in Syria and more, he thinks the world is far from falling apart.

“In fact, it has never been better — more peaceful, prosperous, safe, or just,” Gates said. “And I’m on a mission to prove it.”

It’s a message that Gates has previously shared with GeekWire, saying that objectively there have been a lot of great things that have happened over almost any time period, whether it had to do with issues of rights, or health or education — “the world is improving.”

While some might say that being the world’s richest person might be the just the salve one needs to avoid feeling the ill effects of modern existence, Gates said understanding how many challenges humanity has overcome so far provides inspiration for tackling today’s problems — and preventing tomorrow’s.

Gates and his wife Melinda Gates will be co-hosting an event in New York this week called Goalkeepers where they’ll be joined by such folks as former President Barack Obama to share “exciting success stories” and talk about “where the world still needs to improve.”

A virtual reality video attached to the Gates Notes post features Gates’ in a voiceover.

“If you want to improve the world, you always have to be a little pissed off. That’s why these problems get solved,” Gates said.

On Twitter, where being pissed off probably doesn’t solve too many problems, Gates’ followers seemed a little miffed by the rosy outlook in their replies to his tweet.

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