On January 1, The New York Times included a special section called “The Year in Pictures 2022.” There were photos of bombed-out cities and towns, an Indonesian village devastated by an earthquake, a child working at a coal mine in Afghanistan, houses in North Carolina that collapsed into the ocean, battles between Israeli police officers and Palestinian mourners carrying a coffin, a woman mourning her grandmother’s death in a mass shooting, an alley in the Itaewon district of Seoul, where a crowd surge at a Halloween celebration killed more than 150 young people, a marina in Fort Myers, Florida, destroyed by Hurricane Ian. A lot of devastating and heart-breaking photos.
But of course, this special section wasn’t entirely negative. There were a few shots of people smiling or celebrating. But negativity overwhelmed far more and despite the occasional ray of light, life in this world seems to be catastrophically, sad and violent. But are we really living in such a negative world? What about all the positive things that have been achieved?
While millions of people suffer each year, the media’s consistent negativity plus the average person’s pessimism is not a fair picture of reality.
It all depends on from what perspective we view the world. Just have a look at the following 3 statements and all 3 are true:
1. The world is much better.
2. The world is awful.
3. The world can be much better.
Of course, there are plenty of problems to be solved and many setbacks to make the world a better place. But what about the most important things in life such as human longevity, child mortality, living standards, etc. They have all improved dramatically over time. People’s quality of life, has been, can and certainly will improve even further in the future. But why do we not notice and acknowledge the good developments in life?
When journalists and the main stream media don’t report about the positive developments, this does not mean it isn’t happening. If you listen only to the negativity reported from the main stream media you get a worldview distorted by anger, outrage and fear.
The reality is that people in general in this world today are living longer, healthier, safer, richer, freer lives than ever before.
Sven Franssen