More countries operate under a democratic system than ever

Despite the turbulent times, we're going through and that too often it feels that our leaders are far from the democratic symbol many of us wish for, the majority of the world’s countries are now democracies. The chart below, shared from the data visualisation and collection website Our World in Data, depicts the rise of the number of democracies over the last two centuries all the way up to 2018 (no data is yet available for the past two years).

"The end of World War I led to the birth of many democracies. However, during the 1930s, many of these young democracies then reverted to being autocratic," Our World in Data reports. Adding that, however, "after World War II, the number of democracies began growing again. But it was the fall of the Iron Curtain circa 1989 that led to a more dramatic increase in the number of democracies."

If there was a silver lining to the current global political situation is that, if history does indeed repeat itself, it seems that after great darkness comes great breakthrough of hope, ambition and a generation of individuals determined to change the evils behind a status quo.

Hope. It is only because we are so close to equality, freedom, inclusion and a united vision that forces are pushing us back so hard. We have hope.

technology is interfering with democracy on levels unforeseen

The Cambridge Analytica scandal was a turning point for us all. It was the final confirmation of the power tech giants have amassed; an unregulated power equivalent to that of governments, operated by entirely private enterprises. But Cambridge Analytica only scraped the very bottom of the barrel and opened the gate to an entire movement of Silicon Valley innovators, developers and founder, who have all come forward to reveal the mechanisms operating behind the scenes, and the learnings have been terrifying, to say the least. We now know that tech companies are deliberately changing how we think, feel and act; they are thriving off our addiction to social media; companies can buy our attention through advertising and target those who are most susceptible.

Founded by Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, The Center for Humane Technology (CHT) is a non-profit organisation working to transform the tech world and align technology with humans' best interest in order to preserve our democracies, protect our well-being, and tackle broader challenges facing humanity.

Find out how you can support Harris on his mission together with CHT on the link below!