Dem
51
GOP
49
We really wanted to run this yesterday, but the universe had other ideas. Oh, well.
As a reminder, the reader question of the week last Saturday was this:
M.B. in St. Paul, MN, asks: Can you—or your readers—make me feel better about the state of the world these days? I look at my 2-year-old son and I can't help but be terrified by what the future holds. The Mideast, Trump, Putin. Sometimes it's too much, and maybe we could all use a little hand holding.
And now, some of the many thoughtful answers we got, organized by theme:
R.E.M. in Brooklyn, NY: M.B., you're right to be concerned with the state of the world and how to make it better—one always should be. Things seem worse though simply because we are living in these times and don't yet know how they will turn out. But consider the past—the 1930s and early '40s carried an even greater threat of worldwide dictatorship, but as we know, the world came through it, but people living in those times didn't know it would work out that way. From the 1950s through the 1980s, the world lived with the threat of nuclear war, and many people despaired over its seeming inevitability, but we now know it didn't happen (though we came close in 1962 and 1983). Remember the hole in the ozone layer? It's disappearing, which gives me hope for addressing global warming.
At the same time, there are good things now that we take for granted that simply didn't exist before. Imagine what COVID would have done to the world if it had hit in 1990—no mRNA vaccines, no internet communications. And for all the garbage on the Internet, we also have essentially all human knowledge at our fingertips—I used to have to go to libraries to research and then hand- or type-write the results; now I can sit at my dining room table and research, write and edit more easily and in my pajamas.
Worried about virulent, violent bigotry? There are now more opportunities for women and people of color than ever before. I've seen a Black president elected, but when I was born, it was still a big deal that a Catholic man was president. Being gay was considered a mental illness. When I graduated from high school, no woman had ever sat on the Supreme Court.
We face massive challenges, no doubt. There is great evil in the world that must be battled. But we have faced worse with less, and things have, overall, gotten better. U.S. life expectancy is 10 percent higher today than when I was born. With hard work and some luck, your son will be around to welcome an even better 22nd Century.
C.D. in Guernsey, Channel Islands: The best way to be optimistic about the present and future is to remember how much worse things were in the past. I recently found a newspaper from November 1979 and the headlines included:
- The Soviet Union conducting nuclear weapons tests
- The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan continuing
- The Ayatollah returning to Iran to seize power in a revolution
- An environmental catastrophe from an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
- KKK members and Neo-Nazis firing on unarmed protesters, killing 5
- A military coup in Bolivia
- Inflation hitting 13%
- The US government considering a massive auto industry bailout
The entire Cold War era was full of wars and threatened wars, international and domestic instability, economic fiascos and environmental disasters, on a scale much worse than anything we see today. And of course, the era from 1914 through 1945 was much, much worse than the Cold War. Compared to what our parents and grandparents went through, we live in a relative paradise.
A.S. in Fairfax, VA: My MAGA grandmother recently told me how terrible everything in the world is today and how it was so much better when she was younger (1940s and 50s). She then proceeded to tell me about her visit to Norway back then and how funny it was to have to go to the outhouse across the street because there was no plumbing and no real bathroom there.
On the average, our quality of life has improved dramatically over the last century, let alone since the beginning of our time. Humans are still animals and will act like it with regularity, but I would think less about the challenges we face and more about the potential developments in technology and medicine on the horizon. Look at what has changed since you and/or your parents were born and imagine that amount of progress over your child's life!
A.H. in Newberg, OR: Let me refine that a little bit.
April 1969. I was looking at my draft notice. My wife had just given birth to our son, Jon, 5 months earlier. I still had 3 months before I would graduate from Oregon State University. I had already lost a high school classmate in Vietnam. I knew several classmates who had been drafted or enlisted and were running through the jungle, a couple more who took extended vacations in Canada. My younger brother was in the Army and awaiting orders. Nixon promised to end the war but the carnage and deaths continued. War protests filled the nightly news. The world was going to Hell in a handbasket. I survived, as did my brother; he also lost a classmate in the rice paddies. I know several who have suffered from PTSD or exposure to Agent Orange. (To my classmates or anyone else who visited that lovely tourist destination SEA, Check out your potential VA benefits under the PACT act.)
It is a little over 54 years since I was looking at that draft notice. We went on to have three more children plus five spouses, then eight grandchildren, plus a granddaughter-in-law, and come August there is a wedding planned to add a grandson-in-law. and now a GREAT-grandson, Jonas, enriches our lives.
My parents passed away several years ago. I had the good fortune to inherit a trove of letters that had been written between my mother and father before they were married, and throughout World War II, and after they were married but separated by the war's requirements. They are very poignant and enlightening. My father writing from "Somewhere in Germany" about getting wounded. My mother writing about life in Oregon and working in mister Kaiser's shipyard. Would this war ever end and could we return to normal?
Can I make you "feel better about the state of the world these days?" I am sorry, I probably can not. From my parents' letters, I recognize that same question from them +/- 80 years ago. From my own experience I had those same questions. The world is still filled with chaos and confusion, death and destruction seems to be everywhere, and we are still "going to Hell in a hand basket." My parents survived the calamities of their day. My wife and I are still living the dream and wondering how we got this far. I pray each day for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandson. What the future will bring I cannot answer. All I know is that we have muddled through this far and I have to believe that we will continue to find some way to keep on going.
From your question, I cannot determine your gender, hopefully this is appropriate. From the group Kansas:
J.K. in Silverdale, WA: When I was pregnant with my first child, I remember walking into work one day feeling horribly depressed. I had listened to NPR on my drive to work, and the coverage focused on the atrocities of the Iraq War. I said to an older colleague that sometimes I questioned what I was doing bringing a child into this world. He told me that he had the same thoughts when his wife was pregnant during the Vietnam conflict, but that since his daughter was born, he had never regretted it.
The very fact that you are looking at your 2-year-old son and the state of the world and fearing for his future tells me that you are raising him well, that he will develop the qualities that humanity needs. Indeed, my former colleague's words suggest that humans have had these concerns for generations, enough of them that we are still here.
F.L. in Allen, TX: I was an engineer and a secondary STEM teacher for some time. Yes, there are some "problem children" that need a come-to-Jesus moment with Mom and Dad. Yet, by and large, the majority of kids can spot horse hockey from a mile away. I intentionally taught some debunked theories (i.e. phlogiston, ether, spontaneous generation, phrenology, etc.) and I would ask, on a test, "Wot's rong with this picher?" They nailed it every time.
Kids are wicked smart. They can spot the hogwash. Oddly, it's the "problem child" that usually does the My Cousin Vinny act.
The fact that M.B. is concerned tells me that the kids are all right.
C.S. in Philadelphia, PA: I have a two-and-a-half year old son and I will admit to having some of that same dread. In the midst of the Hamas atrocities, I looked into his eyes and thought in another universe, it could have been us. Yet, he knows nothing of this. He smiles. He laughs. He memorizes everything from pop songs to prayers because this is what his mother and I fill him with. Though oddly, he picked up the word "Netanyahu." Fill your son with optimism and he will do the same back to you.
S.D. in Holden, MA: There are a lot of directions I could take to answer this. The trends worldwide towards less poverty and more medical care (which in every case in the world brings a nation's population under control). The fact that the world, for perhaps the first time in history, recognizes the importance of human rights and our collective responsibility to the planet, even if we aren't yet very good at doing those things. The fact that the world survived the most devastating pandemic in at least 100 years, and possibly since the Black Plague, and though we are tired and scared, medical progress has improved and the world is recovering, much faster than many thought possible.
However, since you mentioned you have a 2-year-old son, I will answer instead by talking a little bit about my own sons. They are 23 and 21 now, which means that they were less than one and unborn when 9/11 happened. I remember how scared we all were in that moment. We lived in New Jersey at that time. I knew people who were in Manhattan that day. Would there be more attacks soon? What else had been planned? How many more American citizens and world citizens would be killed? Should we even be having kids in an environment like that?
Sure, lots of things, good and bad, have happened since then, in the world, in our nation and in my own life. But one thing I can say when I compare then to now is that I have the privilege to know two fine young men. One just graduated from college and is working in his chosen field, educating young and old on the importance and joys of science. The other will graduate from college in the spring and is already doing research in his chosen field, alternative energy and carbon reduction.
I take no credit for any aspect of how these two sons of mine turned out, but when you ask me to tell you ways in which the future will be better, I can tell you that 20 years from now you will marvel at the person your son has become. Love him, nurture him, participate in his life and give him the tools and skills to think for himself and protect the rights of others. Good things will happen.
M.l. in Wilton Manors, FL: News follows a simple formula "If it bleeds, it leads." This can make you think the world is falling apart. But it is not. I suggest you try replacing some of your existing news by reading science news. This will help you see the world as it will be in the future. Remember COVID and the vaccines scientists quickly developed? The messenger RNA technology has been around for a while, but governments were hesitant to allow vaccines using this technology to go into circulation. COVID changed that. Now this same technology is being used to develop vaccines for SARS, MERS, Hepatitis C, HIV, Influenza, Malaria, Norovirus, Tuberculosis, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Anemia and even heart attack, stroke and cancer! Science helps convert terrible events into a good future.
M.E. in Stanwood, WA: The thing to remember is that for every story of terror, corruption, anger, and hatred there are three other stories not reported about things going well. When was the last time a story was told about the success seen in a classroom or a story about a family getting the support they needed due to the hard work of organizations? Goodness and hope still exist in the world, it is just not worthy to be told by the media.
I recommend a newsletter produced by Future Crunch. They work hard at telling stories of good news.
K.A. in Takoma Park, MD: I have to do something. I don't like phone banking, and can't go door-knocking anymore, so I write postcards. I volunteer with PostcardsToVoters.org, but there are many other similar groups. This one works to increase turnout, especially in close races. They are also currently running a campaign in Florida to get people to register to vote by mail. Actually, I've taken it a step further in that I make up kits of postcards, stamps and the message to copy and give the kits out to friends who are interested. They always help pay for the stamps and printing. I have read that postcards increase turnout from 2%-10%, though I can't back that up definitively.
M.M. in San Diego, CA: Taking action helps tamp down anxiety. As you read the world's preeminent political analysis website, I surmise political action may appeal to you. Your local county Democratic Party is always in need of volunteers for Get Out the Vote efforts, especially for the general election. With a 2-year-old, you may not have any spare time for volunteering, but if you can manage an hour or two a week, you'd meet a lot of amazing people who share your concerns and who aren't about to let fascism get a toehold in America. (Now I have Casablanca playing in my head when Victor Laszlo says to Rick, "Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.")
A.F. in Boston, MA: If you need hope in a seemingly hopeless world, look to the people that have suffered for millennia and yet have survived it all: Jews.
As a Jewish person with family history in Eastern Europe, the Holocaust has always loomed large in my life. One of many questions about that time is "Why have children in the ghettos and camps? Wasn't it hopeless?" The answer was always hope—hope that the awful time would pass and the children would live on. And while the Holocaust was so awful in so many ways, they were right. It passed and their children lived on. The Jewish people survived.
Given that your son is close to the same age as my daughter means that you likely faced a similar decision as us during the height of COVID pandemic fears. Would this pass? What kind of world would this child be entering 9 months from now? Despite all that fear and uncertainty, we decided to go for it. It was an expression of hope that the pandemic would pass and the world would survive. The very existence of my daughter and your son are a form of proof that we believe the world will be better in the future.
I know this is getting long, but I also have to share this bit of Jewish folk music written by the legendary Debbie Friedman:
It's natural that as we get older, the world gets scarier but we get wiser. We can survive this trial and guide the next generation to be better than we were, just as our parents guided us. You have time. You have strength. You have life.
L.T. in Vienna, Austria: Mahatma Gandhi said: "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it—always."
J.W. in Los Angeles, CA: There's a terrific performance of Thorton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" available for streaming; here's one link. This production stars Harold Gould, Emma Thompson, and Blair Brown. It was performed at the Old Globe in San Diego and broadcast on PBS. I remember watching the original broadcast; I lately think of it often and have rewatched this performance from time to time (the sound is terrible, unfortunately). It may seem surprising that a 1942 play can deftly tackle global climate change, mass extinction, immigration, adultery, and war with so much humor, but Wilder succeeds.
For example, after successfully separating N from M, Mr. Antrobus (the lead character) comes home from work only to throw the mammoth and dinosaur out of the house to save Moses and Homer from the wall of ice. Mrs. Antrobus' speech to the philandering Mr. Antrobus is cheer-worthy to this day, and the big boat all the mammals are boarding before the big wave hits brings them together again. In the end, after the war, Mr. Antrobus' books were saved and he's certain the ideas in them will make a difference, such as words from Spinoza and Plato (the "O Critias" speech... relevant today as any words ever spoken). At the end, the maid (who asserts her rights as a worker from time to time) reminds us that "the world's at sixes and sevens, and why the house hasn't fallen down about our ears long ago is a miracle to me," then that "the end of this play isn't written yet."
This play probably isn't timely for a 2-year-old. But the ideas behind it are: strength in the family, kindness to those in need, working to make the world better in the face of natural and human-caused disaster. We've happened on a moment in a story thousands of years in the making, and the end isn't written yet.
G.M. in San Francisco, CA: I, too, am worried about the state of the world and what the future holds. The best I can offer is to share the Buddha's teaching that we should be "of this world but not burdened by it." Difficult as this might seem, it is possible to care about the world but not be consumed by the bad news.
D.P. in Bronxville, NY: As it happens, a couple of years ago I gave a lecture on this subject to a college class. Here is a slightly updated version of the presentation in PDF format. I hope that it brings a little bit of holiday cheer.
J.B. in Montgomery, IL: There's a decent thread on Reddit about this right now.
D.A. in Orangetown, NY: I don't know. I don't know what the future holds. I found this commencement speech by Patton Oswalt, at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, to be somewhat helpful in that regard:
But I don't know whether it will speak to you. I hope it does.
D.E. in Sanford, FL: May I suggest a book: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in! (Z)