Dec 31, 2017 3 min read

The new year will be arriving in just a couple of hours, and as 2018 approaches, our national mood seems to be one of surly discontent. Rather than striking up a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne,” we’re ready to snarl, “Bah! Humbug!”

A poll earlier this month by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found that only 29 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, while 63 percent believe it is going the opposite way. Many observers believe that we are more divided today than at any time since a half-century ago, when many of the people in power today were in their teens or 20s.

An opioid epidemic that shows no signs of abating is cause for deep concern. Ongoing changes in the economy are leading many to wonder if the jobs they have today will still be there tomorrow. It would be easy to give in to the belief that our best days were in the past and we should turn back the clock to retrieve them.

But with all the things we have to knit our brows about in the near term, in the long run we have a great deal to be optimistic about. Fifty years ago, the Beatles sang “It’s getting better all the time!”, and in steady increments, that is indeed what is happening for humanity as a whole.

Despite the fact that only 6 percent of Americans believed the world was steadily improving according to one 2016 survey, the world has made undeniable strides on a number of fronts in recent decades. Our overall health is certainly better than it was a century or two ago, and even a decade or two ago. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t really that long ago that surgeons didn’t wash their hands before cutting open patients, or that bleeding was thought to be a cure-all. We’re living longer, and the things that used to be certain death sentences in the past, such as heart disease or cancer, can now sometimes be controlled and even conquered. Who knows? Maybe before this century is out, cancer will be kept at bay through a simple vaccine.

The palaces of French kings may have once been spectacular, but they stank because they lacked indoor plumbing, and the overwhelming majority of the people ruled over by these capricious monarchs were living in abject poverty. Consider that across the world today, only 10 percent of people live on less than $2 per day. That’s still too high in a world of 7 billion people, but 37 percent of us lived on $2 in today’s dollars in 1990. In 1820, that number stood at an astonishing 94 percent.

In 1820, much of the world also could not read. Except for a select few, the contents of a newspaper, political or religious tract were beyond everyday comprehension. Now, 85 percent of the world possesses basic literacy. This fact has been critical in boosting productivity, spreading democracy and expanding science and technology.

Overall, we’re healthier, more tolerant, better educated and more aware of the world outside our immediate ambit than ever before.

That alone should give us a sense of optimism as we look toward the challenges of 2018.

Happy New Year!