Somewhere, right now, a newspaper columnist is whingeing. Even Matthew Parris has succumbed. Moaning has become the default temptation for the hard-pressed opinion-former. It’s cheap, it’s easy — but it’s wrong. On balance, the world is a far better place than it was, say, 30 years ago, when I was the age my children are now. Here are some reasons to be cheerful. Feel free to add your own.

Communism is all but gone. Even Castro is almost dead. Fewer countries are run by tyrants of any stripe. Fewer people do dirty, dangerous, soul-destroying, health-destroying or just plain boring jobs. Military casualties come at a much higher political cost: in 1972, when I was my daughter’s age, 134 British soldiers were killed in Northern Ireland, exactly the number that have died in four years of war in Iraq.

Clothing and food are cheaper, better and more likely to be made of natural ingredients, though neoprene, Gore-Tex, Lycra and Velcro are more than welcome. Tinned mandarins are no longer part of our staple diet. My children eat delicious stuff I hadn’t heard of until I was 25.

Obesity, narcissism and living too long are much less serious problems than hunger, disease and not living long enough. My children’s grandparents are all alive. Three of mine were dead before I was four. Viagra has been invented. Fifty is the new thirty.

Expert View

I had to work myself up into a passably grumpy state to discuss things like romance, class and politics. Fine — but the trouble was that, after the TV crew had gone, the grumpiness stayed

Matthew parris

• More

• Post a comment

Debate

Is life getting better?

• Join The Debate

Divorce is not stigmatised. Neither are mixed-race children. Corporal punishment is against the law. Very few people think homosexuality is a sin or that women are inferior or that racism is a bit of a laugh. More than 50 per cent of doctors are women. Bullying is taken seriously by schools. Domestic violence is taken seriously by the police. Parents, especially fathers, have warmer, friendlier, closer relationships with their children.

Shops open longer. Ikea, Decathlon and TK Maxx benefit millions. More people than ever are writing, recording, painting, creating. The cinema, books and newspapers are still very cheap. Museums are free and more interesting. Modern architecture is rather nice to look at. Good taste in matters great and small has percolated down. Duvets are preferable to blankets. The great cities of the North of England are rising again.

Very few people smell. Lidos are reopening. Canals are being dug once again. Unleaded is normal. There are salmon in the Thames, wildflowers in the hedgerows and farmers’ markets in the high street. You can get to Paris by train in three hours. Many of the world’s best footballers play in England. Immigration is up, emigration is up, the internet is utterly wonderful, the word “sir” is falling into disuse, ties are being cast off, almost everyone is on first-name terms.

And spring is nearly here, and many types of cancer are in headlong retreat, and our kids will live a very long time, and Doctor Who will soon be back on the telly.

So, given all that, why the long face?

Times Recommends

• Resist urge to throw voters red meat
• Slay sacred cows and be candid
• We cannot let these 100 deaths deflect us