Image: Wikimages via Pixabay.
Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
As we head in to the new year and the new decade (the roarin’ ’20s) I’m going to do something that I am bad at and spread a little cheer.
As we think about the world, whether that is our local neighbourhood, our community, country or region, we must always remember context, scale and scope.
It became a trope seemingly from 2010 onward that the world and our society are getting worse every day. It is an understandable conclusion to draw, I know I have muttered more than once about the state of affairs on our dear planet earth. But fear not, reader! Captain Context is here!
It is easy to see individual circumstances, whether that be a rise in homelessness, drug addictions, the economy, and draw a conclusion that everything is a mess.
But to say “things are bad” is really untrue by an objective sense. The world doesn’t have a bad day, individuals do. We have bad years, bad weeks, months, but a billion beautiful and horrible things happen every day, and a billion more fall into different shades of grey.
This preamble about context is simply getting you ready for a shocking revelation: the world is constantly and undoubtedly becoming a better place.
How? You ask. Have you seen the latest tweet? Donald Trump is president? Climate change? How can this be?
I personally find history to be a great anaesthetic for today’s news cycle. We (myself included) fall into the trap that what is happening in the present day is most important (fair enough) and never to be repeated again. The deeper I dive into history, especially that of political and ideological power structures and economics, the more I find similarities, repeat offenders and the same ideas in different context circling in the cosmic soup.
In the year 1820, 12 per cent of the world’s population could read; today, 86 per cent of the global population is literate. Child mortality rates have declined five-fold since 1950 around the world. Long-term homicide rates nose dive on statistical charts from the late 18th century to today. Crime statistics for most criminal activities follow the same pattern.
Yes, I am cherry picking some good statistics, but I do have a point. When you zoom out using the amazing technology of the day, the data is clear: things are getting better. This doesn’t mean individuals and communities don’t endure horrible circumstances every day. However, to me it is the light at the end of a never-ending tunnel: human progress. It is what we do, it’s in our DNA.
The challenges of the day loom large, as they did during the Great Depression, or the Second World War. If history shows us one thing, humanity is always up to the task. Our secret? Adaptability. Everything changes, and nothing is the same moment to moment, so we must ride the wave of life as it jostles and turns.
I have been known to be a grumpy fellow from time to time, so this is my cynical version of “holiday cheer,” and hopefully something to keep in mind as we head in to another decade.
If you don’t get a headache looking at graphs most of the data I referenced earlier was pulled from ourworldindata.org a great resource for worldwide and regional statistics.
