It is the best of times, it is the worst of times

By Kelly Day

It’s hard to not feel blue, or even angry, about the state of our world. 2018 was unquestionably a tumultuous year. We have reports on possible scandals from our leader whose aides are being convicted of federal felonies (facts, not a political opinion). We are seeing old-fashioned racism in a way it wasn’t only five years ago. More than 200 admired, powerful men have been accused of sexual misconduct or assault. There have been human slaughters, an increase of nuclear threats, ISIS attacks, random shootings, and suicides and depression have become more prevalent, people victimizing women and fellow humans of color; climate change accelerating and more.

Yes, in some ways, these are dark times and it can be depressing. This is real and alarming. But I wanted to put a few words on paper to help us remember that some aspects of life are getting dramatically better. I know this writing is not going to counter the massive amounts of bad press and the general strong negativity bias in human nature. We all know that negative experiences affect people more, and for longer than positive ones. Survey evidence consistently indicates that few people in rich countries have any clue that the world has taken a happier turn in recent decades – a poll in 2016 found that only 8 percent of US residents knew that global poverty had fallen since 1996.

 Nothing is permanent, and challenges like climate change and the potential collapse of liberal democracy remain, but the world is getting much, much better on a variety of important, under-appreciated dimensions. We all know that bad news predominates but let’s take heart from a few under-reported encouraging trends.

Recent positive short and long-term trends and behaviors are worth noticing such as machine learning; immune therapies; #MeToo; #BlackLivesMatter; a dedication of 50/50 gender in the workplace; low inflation; digital streaming; smart cars; wearable technologies; year-round fresh fruit, and additions to my wardrobe arrive on the porch in a box!

Here are a few long-term trends worth remembering that show our world is improving.

• World hunger is retreating

• Child labor is less common

• Literacy is increasing

• Wars are becoming less frequent

• Explicit racial prejudice (as in opposition to interracial marriage) has plummeted

• Gay, lesbian, and transgender folks are becoming more accepted

• Infant mortality is rarer and life expectancy is increasing

• Rates of undernourishment have plunged across the developing world

• More babies are surviving infancy around the world

• Child mortality has been steadily declining, too

• Africa had a particularly steep drop in child mortality between 1990 and today

• Diseases like Malaria are costing fewer lives than they once did

• The number of people dying from AIDS has been declining over the last decade

To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times. It is an age of foolishness, it is an age of wisdom. It is a season of darkness, it is a season of light. It is the winter of despair, it is the spring of hope.

These words are not meant to have a political slant. They are to point out that we are doing OK, very OK and I have hope. Some days less than others. Nonetheless, I need to believe that we are trending up and the world will only continue to improve.

"There are good things on the Horizon!"

Kelly