https://xcancel.com/BretDevereaux/status/1896592119093240204
What's that famous quote about statistics? Oh, yeah I think it's "statistics are completely truthful measures of objective reality and can't be easily warped to suit a narrative."
I'm a fan of Devereaux's ancient history blog A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry. But any time he comments on contemporary history and events its always stuff like this. It always leads to the conclusion that the post-WWII US-led liberal world order is the best thing to ever happen.
Also I'm pretty sure he is about 40, which means he was born a mere forty years removed from the most destructive conflict in human history. Even if this graph, and the statement that he is replying to, are correct and the last 80 years are the safest years in human history I think it's a little early to be counting your chickens.
Does it really count as a long peace just because post-WWII conflicts haven't had a comparable death toll? What about the various campaigns of ethnic cleansing and displacement and other assorted horrors that this graph conveniently doesn't include? Also fails to account for the fact that at no other time in history has the very real possibility of nuclear apocalypse hung over all our heads. Is that peace?
