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!)