I offer the following four excellent examples:
1. CBC News website has posted an 'Opinion' piece by Scott Reid, for CBC News: 'Think 2016 was bad? 2017 will be worse; Four reasons to despair about 2017.'
His four categories are not surprising:
-- President Trump
-- Global Economy
-- Prejudice
-- Journalism
Perhaps, Dear Reader, some folks might claim that Reid was just getting started!
His closing is sombre: 'It's not a very rosy outlook and human nature runs contrary to much of this analysis. We're wired to look ahead with hope, to dismiss the naysayers and expect that things will somehow work out for the best. But reason tells us that can't always be so. Now and then, the outlook is every bit as grim as it appears.'
Was it really all that bad?
Is it going to get worse?
2. A CBC News 'Analysis,' this one from Don Pittis, cites: 'Two conflicting stories of our economic future as we head into 2017: Two great economic books of 2016 took opposing views on whether we're headed for a boom or doom.'
He discusses Robert Gordon's dense volume, 'The Rise and Fall of American Growth.' The key lesson of this book, he claims, was not the rise, but the fall.
However, the view of two Oxford scholars, Ian Goldin and Canadian Chris Kutarna, is far more uplifting. Called 'Age of Discovery,’ their book makes a direct comparison between our current era and the vibrancy of the Renaissance.
3. The Guardian (of London), another excellent source of analysis, presents: 'Don’t let the news get you down – things will get better, they always do,' by Simon Jenkins.
He writes that, 'We live longer, with better access to water, power and health services and less violence. Hope lies in these statistics, not in the horror of headlines.
Hope is a slave to news; we should never forget it. And news has always been bad. Its currency is unspeakable horror, with hatred and doom darkening every horizon. News defies us to peer through the gloom and ever see light ahead.'
4. Earlier this month, the Guardian had published an article, 'Why I'm optimistic about 2017,' by Paul Mason.
He claims that, 'If we adapt quickly to the reality of the new world order, we can continue to fight for human rights and social justice.
It is not pessimism that makes me write this, but optimism. Optimism that, if we adapt our thinking to the new reality fast enough, we can go on fighting for social justice and human rights, on behalf of that generation staring glumly at their touchscreens over the Christmas table. But that is a big if.'
Where do I stand?
Frankly, Dear Reader, while I may sometimes rant and complain, I am an Optimist!
Happy New Year.
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