Happy New Year! From Vaccines to Homicides to Poland to Brazil to America to Cats…Good News

These are not the best of times, to put it mildly. But it’s important to see the rays of hope piercing the doom and gloom. They illuminate the fact that America and the world can recover, that we’re not trapped in an irreversible downward spiral. Instances of progress across the globe remind us that what once seemed lost can still be found.

For example, from increasing global vaccine availability to positive health developments in Mexico and Bangladesh to improved animal welfare practices to a record drop in U.S. murders to a host of other beacons, some significant changes made aspects of this world better in 2023.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe…

Poland is an additional source of solace. In the wake of the fall of the Iron Curtain, this most populous (41 million) and prominent nation in what we once called Eastern Europe became one of the most promising places on earth. Its post-communist democratic, social and economic progress distinguished it as a source of optimism when I visited there several times in the 1990s and early 2000s.

This came to a crashing halt in 2015, when the authoritarian-leaning Law and Justice Party’s electoral victory led to it eroding judicial and media independence, along with promoting anti-abortion/immigration/LGBTQ+ laws and policies. Its subsequent 2019 win at the polls seemed to solidify this trend in a nation where the democracy-espousing Solidarity labor movement had once bucked Soviet-imposed repression.

Yet all was not lost. Earlier this year, a centrist, democratic opposition coalition won a majority of both popular votes and parliamentary seats. The election results are good news for European democracy and solidarity. And those results are bad news for Hungary’s autocratic regime and its American right-wing sympathizers, which have lost an important regional partner.

Meanwhile, in South America…

Then there’s Brazil. When a populist quasi-authoritarian won the presidency there in 2018, he was hailed as his nation’s Trump for both his style and the substance of his positions. He launched a series of attacks on the country’s democracy, judiciary and media. The prospect of his continuing in power threatened not just the nation but the region: Brazil’s population of over 214 million constitutes half of South America and makes it the most important country on a continent where the next largest nation (Colombia) is less than a quarter of its size.

2022 saw a positive reversal of fortune, however. A former Brazilian president defeated his repressive foe in a hard-fought contest, returning the country to the ranks of those with democratic leaders and prospects.

So we’ve seen the two most important nations in two important parts of the world take a turn for the better relatively recently.

Even in the United States…

There’s another notable nation that can boast of some good news: the United States. At least on the economic front. And despite what people are saying about the economy.

In the words of one leading economist, as summarized in the L.A. Times:

“Suppose you had fallen asleep in August 2019 and didn’t wake up for four years. On awakening, if you were an economist, the first thing you’d want to know is what the latest data show. You’d be happily surprised: Unemployment, which was at a historic low when you fell asleep, has remained near that point — 3.8% in September. The economy has grown significantly, even adjusting for inflation, meaning the country has gotten richer. And perhaps most surprisingly, for the first time since before the Great Recession, income distribution has become a bit more equal as the biggest gains have gone to low-wage workers.”

What’s more, the Misery Index, which represents the combined rates of U.S. unemployment and inflation, stood at 6.83 in December, impressively down from 12.66 just 18 months earlier. The current figure is lower than it was throughout the entirety of the “Morning in America” Reagan years.

Despite this, the majority of Americans have soured on the economy and Biden’s economic record. Significantly, though, they are not nearly as down on their individual economic circumstances: In a Quinnipiac University “telephone survey of 1,818 adults Aug. 10-14,71% of Americans described the economy as either not so good or poor. And 51% said it’s getting worse…But 60% said their financial situation is good or excellent.”

In noting this, I’m not negating the real pain that many people feel due to lingering inflation, high mortgage rates, depleted savings, ongoing poverty or other negative trends. I’m just saying that in the grand scheme of economic things, things could be a lot worse and some things have gotten a lot better. The fact that we’ve bounced back from an economy-crushing pandemic with an apparent soft economic landing rather than a crushing recession, and with a substantial majority of Americans saying they’re in good or great economic shape, is good news.

And speaking of the pandemic, let’s be thankful that in many respects life has returned to relative normal from what was once a deadly state of grave concern.

And Even Cats!

Finally, if you need a different sign of something positive, consider this story about how inmates in a Chilean prison have found solace, love, fun and maybe even rehabilitation in caring for hundreds of stray cats. Reading it might make you purr.

I don’t want to come across as a naïve Stevie Sunshine here. We can’t and shouldn’t ignore the dismal developments at home and abroad. I know that I can’t. There’s certainly lots to be concerned about.

But we shouldn’t ignore the good news either, especially during such trying times.

Here’s to not falling to our fears in 2024, to being active participants rather than defeatist observers as the year unfolds, and to perhaps surprising ourselves by making the 2025 New Year a time of hope.