The Ever-Growing Benevolence Bookshelf - Recommended texts on Progress, Abundance, The Triumph of Reason and Virtue - Optimism is Realism!

Resources for folks who watch too much cable news, or for other reasons, think things are getting worse, when it's so obvious that everything's getting magnificently, jaw-droppingly better.

Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less, by Alex Epstein

Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future, by Johan Norberg

Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, by Steven Pinker

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, by Steven Pinker

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, by Steven Pinker

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, by Matt Ridley

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling

The Ultimate Resource (and the updated "The Ultimate Resource 2"), by Julian Simon

Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet, by Marian L. Tupy & Gale L. Pooley

(This list will continue to grow … recommendations for additions are welcome and encouraged!)