海角大神

Seldom has pessimism been an easier sell.

News seeps in that is objectively bad. Some 4 million US schoolchildren reportedly were聽 in 2018, for example. (Many were precautionary.) Intolerance of 鈥渢he other鈥� gives rise to episodes of inhumanity.

News seeps in that is subjectively disastrous to some and defended by others as progress. The current US administration, for example, has rolled back set forth by the one that preceded it.

So where 鈥� if anywhere 鈥� is there unity around optimism?

Followers of the Monitor鈥檚 recent Perception Gaps series stay open to hopeful counternarratives. So do thinkers like Steven Pinker, the explorer of social relations and serial puncturer of pessimism.

As former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels , pointing to work by Dr. Pinker and others: 鈥淧ick your favorite worry and it鈥檚 likely to be getting better, not worse.鈥�

罢丑别谤别鈥檚 associated with using that as a reason to stop working for change. But a from Quartz also uses data to show indisputable progress: The share of global energy generated from renewables, for instance, passed 10 percent in 2018. Literacy is growing worldwide. More women are in government. More species keep moving out of the endangered column.

More reasons, as the old year passes, for looking forward.

Now to our five stories for your Friday, including an exploration of farmers鈥� faith in their ability to be better stewards of their lands and a reflection on Americans鈥� faith in democracy.