A better world starts with ourselves
As another year ends, imbued with the Christmas messages of love, charity and goodwill, it’s a good time to try mindfulness, a long overdue digital disconnect and to work on improving ourselves.
It is easy in our times to conjure up the famous opening sentence of Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
It is a fascinating time, so awash in incredible opportunity and, at the same time, so forsaken for some. From climate alarmists to assorted worriers, a concerted campaign has convinced many young people that times are not good. Survey questions, laughable a generation ago (“will humans be wiped out in the next 100 years”) actually have significant numbers of people agreeing. Even the more balanced question, “are times getting worse?” finds agreement among 60 per cent of the general population.
While some of this stems from the incessant push of certain groups toward the apocalyptic and a media focus on the unusual, dramatic or shocking, there is also the innate human negativity bias — it’s just easier and safer to expect the worst. Notwithstanding, a look at some of the planet’s vital signs find that they’re not bad.
Singaporean academic and former UN delegate Kishore Mahbubani, in his 2018 book, Has the West Lost It?, reminds us that today less than 10 per cent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty, a contrast to the 75 per cent who did in 1950. He predicts that by 2030 more than half of the world’s population will enjoy middle class living standards.
Dr. Mahbubani also explains that in addition to the planet’s huge gains in public health, immunization rates and reduced infant mortality, today’s citizens have the lowest likelihood in human history of dying in a war.
Earlier this fall, Reason Magazine, in conjunction with the Human Progress Institute, declared the “impending defeat” of pestilence, famine, war and death, the so-called Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Admittedly, everything is not perfect. The world still struggles with environmental and human challenges, even crises.
But author Ron Bailey, writing in Reason, concludes that technology and policy have combined to dramatically increase world wealth, reduce hunger and infectious diseases, and dramatically increase life expectancy.
In addition to human innovation and enterprise, much of this is due to inclusive economic and political institutions that are committed to freedom, the rule of law and democratic ideals. This stands in contrast to centuries of human behaviour when the masses lived to be exploited by the elites.
While the human condition improves, we should ask ourselves how we are doing socially. Twenty-five years ago, Seattle Pastor
Bob Moorehead wrote The Paradox of Our Age. It still challenges us that “we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; we buy more but enjoy it less; we have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, yet less time; we have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more medicine, yet less wellness. We drink too much; spend too recklessly; laugh too little; drive too fast; get too angry quickly; stay up too late; get up too tired; read too seldom; watch TV too much and pray too seldom.”
As a Christmas and year end reflection, it’s worth remembering that a better world is still possible. And it begins by improving ourselves.
Gormley is a broadcaster, lawyer, author and former Progressive Conservative MP whose radio talk show is heard weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on 980 CJME Regina and 650 CKOM Saskatoon.