The HDI is an important, if crude, yardstick for human development. Just a few years ago well-being had never been higher, poverty never lower. Yet people around the world were reporting high levels of sadness, stress, and worry. Those self-reported measures have since risen for nearly 3 billion people. And while 9 in 10 people show unwavering support for the ideal of democracy, there has been an increase in those supporting leaders who may undermine it: today, for the first time, more than half the global population supports such leaders.