I get an upbeat newsletter every few weeks that only talks about the good things that are happening in the world. It’s full of good news stories that most of us never hear about.
The 21st Century is full of good news, believe it or not. In most countries, generally, things are improving, even after a worldwide pandemic. Most of the really good news stories come from less developed countries where improved health care and new technologies are alleviating suffering and poverty like never before. Here’s a sampling from Future Crunch’s latest newsletter:
Eighty million fewer people worldwide required treatment for tropical diseases in 2021 compared to 2010. That’s a 25% decrease in one decade.
Despite significant population growth, 584 million fewer people live in extreme poverty today compared to thirty years ago. Half a billion fewer people!
In 2022 alone, four countries banned corporal punishment while five countries ended child marriage (unbelievably, one of those countries was England).
Many countries removed bans on homosexuality in 2022 and 33 governments have now legalized same-sex unions, triple the number one decade ago.
The good news stories are many but I understand why we tend to skip over them. We are fundamentally attracted to bad news. I’m sure journalists would love to publish more good news every day, but the old saying, “if it bleeds, it leads” tends to hold true. Even monumental good news stories can be left unread, like the development of a new malaria vaccine. Saving thousands of children's lives in Africa every year somehow does not appeal to us like a car crash or the threat of a new covid variant.
Even regarding the war in Ukraine, I sometimes wonder if I’m following the war simply as a means of morbid fascination. Do I really need to know everything bad that has happened? Is it helping my friends and family from Ukraine? Am I more empathetic or just more knowledgeable of the tragedy that’s occurring every single day?
The same held true during the height of the pandemic. Was I really needing to follow the spread of the coronavirus day after day – the deaths and its spread, including every new, uniquely named variant? It created a sense of anxiety in me that eventually affected my mental state. I had to withdraw from following the news for about a month until I felt normal again.
This is what the news can do. “Doom scrolling” as it’s been called, involves scrolling through all the horrible headlines of the day. It can make you think the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
Is it? Not really. Only for a small percentage of people who have had a bad day. Not to diminish their suffering, but it’s always a small fraction of the total population. Those people – the ones who had a really bad day – are the ones we want to hear about. Not about the millions of people who are gradually becoming healthier, more educated, and generally wealthier.
All that said, please, continue to read the news, but maybe only once a week? Just a suggestion! Although I still think it’s better to be informed than uninformed – or worse, misinformed – take it all in measure.
Being aware of world events is important, but perhaps it’s better for our psychological health to dive into one single topic instead of reading only about the worst events that happened every day.
With nearly eight billion people in the world, you’ll find no shortage of suffering.
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