First, the good news: There is some
Not all doom and gloom: It may not make the front page, but there are signs the world may yet survive and thrive
“Dear Pete: We are avid readers of both newspapers, everyday, but today I’ve had the thought of quitting ... the news is constantly depressing ... Assad’s mass murders ... the constant terrorist threat ... I feel like going back to bed.” – an email from a Robert Everett, a reader.
Dear Mr. Everett:
I sympathize. I am in bed myself as I write this, although not only because the news depresses me — as it does you — but also because I haven’t what you would call “a real job.”
Still, I take your point. Journalists gravitate toward the calamitous, and that can make for heavy fare day after day. But then bad news offers itself up easily to us, while good news, though it’s out there, is made of shyer stuff. A bomb makes a big noise and kills people, while good news like, say, a rise in life expectancy, expresses itself by an increase of elderly drivers forgetting that their left-turn signals have been on for the last 15 blocks. Try putting that on the front page.
But to return to your email. You hunger for good news. So, as a personal service to you, I’ve looked up some good news stories to help you celebrate the Christmas season, and so that you might forgo the cancellation of your newspaper subscription and keep me in the style of living to which I have become accustomed, which is in bed.
1. Good News on the Cultural Front: Ratings for Keeping Up With The Kardashians fell precipitously for the 2015 TV season. According to the Nielsen ratings, only 1.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the season 11 premiere of KUWTK, down from 2.5 million viewers of the previous year’s premier episode. Could this mean the end of Kim Kardashian’s celebrated and oft-selfied bum? Are we putting “famous for being famous” behind us? Should I stop with the puns before I make an ass of myself?
2. Good News on the Environmental Front: The science journal Nature announced in an article last week that researchers at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, and the Global Carbon Project found that global emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and from industrial sources are on track to level off or perhaps even dip slightly this year. Declines are most pronounced in China, which is increasingly trying to wean itself off coal and is fast increasing its renewable energy sources. This trend could mean we may have a chance in saving the Earth and ourselves, despite the premier’s plans for liquefied natural gas.
3. Good News on the International Relationship Front: According to the Global Peace Index for 2015, the level of peace in the world remained statistically stable, and not much changed from 2014. And while it wasn’t what you would call a vintage year peace-wise, we managed not to blow ourselves up in a nuclear holocaust despite wars in Ukraine and Syria. So there’s that.
And in the plus-minus column, the index found that 81 countries became more peaceful in 2015 while 78 became less peaceful. As for the most peaceful countries globally, count yourself blessed that Canada ranked seventh among all nations, beaten out only by, in order, Iceland, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland and Finland. The U.S., where for the first time gun deaths equalled automobilerelated deaths, came in 94th. That’s not exactly good news, but it is instructive.
4. Good News on the Dietary Front: In a world where kale is king and vegetarianism holds itself up as environmentally and ethically superior to meat-eating, there is good — nay, delicious — news to report. On Monday of this week, the Science Daily reported new research from a Carnegie Mellon University study that found USDA recommendations to consume more fruits, vegetables, dairy and seafood was actually more harmful to the environment because those foods have relatively high resource uses and greenhouse gas emissions per calorie.
“Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon,” said Paul Fischbeck, professor of social and decisions sciences and engineering and public policy. “Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.”
5. Good News on the Health Front: The most recent statistics show that British Columbians still lead all other Canadians, and almost all other people in the world, in average life expectancy.
Our access in B.C. to clean water and air, cheap energy and fresh local food is unsurpassed, and treatment for cancer and heart disease is unparalleled and continues to improve. Thus, our chances of living to a ripe old age in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on Earth improve with it.
On the other hand, your leftturn signal is still on. Turn it off.