海角大神

Half full or half empty? You can鈥檛 go wrong with half empty. It鈥檚 the serious person鈥檚 default mode. No one can say 鈥淚 told you so鈥� when bad things happen. No one can accuse you of being a Pollyanna or glossing over the suffering in the world.聽

They鈥檙e right about the suffering. Progress is happening on many provable fronts. But it is not evenly distributed. In Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan,听Zimbabwe, North Korea, and too many other places, violence, fear,听hunger, and oppression still hold sway. These are real problems that demand intelligent, compassionate, and sometimes aggressive action.

With the reach of global media, we know more about bad things happening in the far corners of the world than ever before. Shining a light on bad things alerts good people to what鈥檚 going on. That can be the first step in rallying international aid or pressing governments to treat their people better.
But perspective is important. Focus only on present pain and suffering, and the world looks bleak. Take the long view, however, and there is strong evidence that war is actually decreasing, poverty is shrinking, women鈥檚 rights are improving, and democracy is awakening.

Up close, the pain is real and immediate. Step back, however, and you鈥檒l see a world getting better.

Here鈥檚 a small illustration of what I mean. I recently scooped up a trove of old Life magazines at a thrift store and took the Wayback Machine to the late 1960s. Along with the amusing images and ads (wow, were cigarettes and booze hawked shamelessly!), the celebrity profiles (Candice Bergen, Joe Paterno) and slice-of-life features (鈥淎 Tom Sawyer Boyhood 鈥� 1970 Style鈥�), were stories of war, racial tension, and urban blight. And on one page was an interesting juxtaposition: book reviews of Joan Didion鈥檚 鈥淧lay It As It Lays鈥� and Alvin Toffler鈥檚 鈥淔uture Shock.鈥澛�

Ms. Didion鈥檚 reviewer noted how with 鈥渆yes that will not shut properly鈥� she eloquently described the suffering and pain too many people experience. On the same page, Mr. Toffler (a man of 鈥済enuinely humane temper,鈥� said his reviewer) was grudgingly applauded for seeing a coming world of greater diversity and freedom.

Both authors have been proved right. Forty years later, Didion remains an eyewitness to life鈥檚 pain, having written recently about the loss of her husband and daughter. And yet, over time, Toffler鈥檚 vision of a better future also rings true.

Here鈥檚 a prediction: Forty years from now, there will still be pain and broken hearts. But year by year, human progress will have increased, too.聽

* * *

Hope is an important 鈥� but not a sufficient 鈥� condition for progress.

Last spring, The Monitor published Jina Moore鈥檚 powerful cover story on peacebuilding (鈥淭he Peacebuilders,鈥� April 4). If you haven鈥檛 read it, it is well worth your time. As Jina noted, after war and social breakdown, after peacemaking and peacekeeping, something more needs to be done. 鈥淧eacebuilding,鈥� she wrote, 鈥渋s about what comes next 鈥� the slow and thankless slog of building a country back up.鈥�

On Dec. 14, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon awarded Jina the highest honor of the UN Correspondents Association for her cover story. (Her reporting was made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.)聽

The award is named in honor of Elizabeth Neuffer, a correspondent for The Boston Globe who died in Iraq in 2003. I was privileged to work with Elizabeth. Like Jina, she traveled the world writing not just about conflict but its causes and aftermath. Her 2001 book, 鈥淭he Key to My Neighbor鈥檚 House,鈥� examined the search for justice in post-conflict Bosnia and Rwanda.

Violence and hatred do terrible damage. It takes hope and hard work to build peace.

John Yemma is the editor of 海角大神.聽