OrilliaMatters received the following letter to the editor from Fred Larsen.
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It’s January. We’ve had our first cold spell of the winter, the Trump saga is ongoing, and it’s an election year in Canada — with all of the angst that that entails. Seems to me it’s a perfect time for some good news, and a story in the New York Times supplement in the Star caught my eye recently. The title of the story, “2018 Was World’s Best Year,” seemed more than a little satirical in tone, but the content was indeed optimistic.
Some points from the story by Nicholas Kristof:
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Each day, on average, another 295,000 people across the globe gained access to electricity, another 305,000 were able to get clean drinking water; and an additional 620,000 were able to get online. (An aside: at this time, some are still seeing the last fact as something to celebrate.)
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Child deaths, while still far too many, have declined. Although about four per cent of children now die by the age of five, that’s down from 19 per cent in 1960 and seven per cent in 2003.
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There’s been “a huge reduction in poverty.” Until the 1950s, the majority of people lived in “extreme poverty.” By the ’80s the number had dropped to 44 per cent. Today, fewer than 10 per cent are living in poverty defined as “extreme.”
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Eighty-six per cent of all one-year-olds have been vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
Kristof ends his article with the comment, “[T]he most important thing in the world ... may be the way the world’s most desperate people are enjoying improved literacy and well-being ...” And, when we take this global perspective, we here in Canada — and especially in Orillia — are doing quite well, aren’t we?
Now that’s the kind of good news we need to hear about more often.
Happy 2019, everyone.
Fred Larsen
Oro-Medonte
