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Some Good News: 16 Ways 2016 Is Not a Total Dumpster Fire

2016-08-16 · list · John · 3:52 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: World affairs, Economics, Pop culture) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, heavy topic, self promotion

John argues that although 2016 has been something of a dumpster fire, slow-moving good news abounds (falling child mortality, disease, conflict deaths and poverty, rising literacy), so hope is not misguided.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — 2016 as a dumpster fire; bad news is sudden and dramatic, good news slow (Max Roser quote)

  • ★★★ John says 2016 has been something of a dumpster fire, yet there is still a lot of good news around the world. (playful) — 00:00:01 · progress
  • ★★★ John says we hear about bad news a lot because it happens suddenly and is often dramatic, whereas good news usually happens slowly. — 00:00:09 · sensationalism
  • ★★ Max Roser (quoted): Max Roser of Our World in Data, as John relays him, notes that no headline ever reads that global child mortality fell by a tiny fraction since yesterday. — 00:00:15 · child mortality

00:00:26 — Health: child mortality, Ebola ended, guinea worm, malaria, pancreatic and overall cancer survival

  • ★★★ John says child mortality keeps falling worldwide and 2016 is on pace to have the fewest child deaths of any year in thousands of years. — 00:00:26 · child mortality
  • ★★ John says the Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia has ended, though flare-ups remain possible. — 00:00:35 · Sierra Leone
    • a number in question (doubtful): "more than 11,000" — check against the recording (west african ebola epidemic deaths)
  • ★★ John says strengthening community health centers in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia is vital to prevent future outbreaks. — 00:00:41 · Sierra Leone
  • ★★★ John says the world is very close to ending guinea worm disease: about 3.5 million cases in 1986, 22 in 2015 and 7 so far in 2016. — 00:00:47
  • ★★★ John says malaria is still a massive global health problem, but attention and funding over 15 years have helped: malaria deaths have fallen by almost half since 2000. — 00:01:02 · malaria
  • ★★ John says a large phase 3 study found a better pancreatic cancer treatment, and early-stage survival rates now approach 30%, up from under 10% about a decade ago. — 00:01:14
  • ★★ John says the overall US cancer survival rate was just under 50% in 1980 and is very close to 70% today. — 00:01:26 · cancer, United States

00:01:37 — War: conflict deaths down, war deaths since 1945, ISIS losing

  • ★★★ John says worldwide conflict deaths fell in 2015 from 2014 and are on pace to fall again in 2016, largely due to less violence in Afghanistan and from Boko Haram. — 00:01:37
  • ★★ John stresses that 2016 is still a definite dumpster fire for conflict; it was simply worse in 2015 and worse still in 2014. — 00:01:49
  • ★★ John says the percentage of humans worldwide who die in war has gone way down since 1945. — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ John says ISIS is losing, having lost Fallujah and Manbij; it remains a threat in Syria, Iraq and Libya, but per The Economist it is weakening fast. — 00:02:05

00:02:17 — US bankruptcies, global economy, absolute poverty, literacy, bookstore sales (and John's unfinished book)

  • ★★ John says there is less bankruptcy in the US: the personal bankruptcy rate has fallen every year since 2010 and is down again in 2016. — 00:02:17 · United States
  • ★★ John says the global economy is growing and will probably grow faster this year (2016) than last. (hedged) — 00:02:27
  • ★★★ John says absolute poverty is declining worldwide: in 2016 there are 200 million fewer people in absolute poverty than in 2012. — 00:02:27 · extreme poverty
  • ★★ John says literacy rates are rising worldwide, the literacy gender gap is shrinking, and the share of literate humans will be higher than ever this year (2016). — 00:02:42
  • ★★ John says people have not stopped reading books: bookstore sales are up in 2016 for the first time in many years, and nobody quite knows why. — 00:02:46
  • ★★ John says the rise in bookstore sales reminds him that he should really finish the book he has been working on. (playful) — 00:02:57

00:03:00 — Fun ones: video games and No Man's Sky on HankGames, Harry Potter, AFC Wimbledon, Pokemon Go, Beyonce

  • ★★ John says video games are getting better; though many people dislike it, he is overwhelmed by the beauty and size of No Man's Sky. — 00:03:00
  • ★★ John says he has just begun a new HankGames series in which he explores his existential anxieties while walking around a largely abandoned planet; a link is in the description. — 00:03:06 · HankGames
  • ★★ John lists among the good news that AFC Wimbledon is in League One and that 'our' new advertising is up in their stadium. — 00:03:20 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★ John counts getting more Harry Potter among 2016's good news. — 00:03:20 · Harry Potter (book series)
  • ★ John says Beyoncé released maybe the best album of the decade not made by the Mountain Goats. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:30

00:03:34 — Not everything is well, but humans can make broad positive change; hope is not misguided; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says he isn't claiming all is well on Earth, with much to lament and change, but is encouraged that as a species we've shown the ability to make broad positive changes. — 00:03:34 · progress
  • ★★★ John says he really believes that, in spite of it all, hope is not misguided. — 00:03:41 · hope

In the description and comments

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: hope · progress

Also: People: Beyoncé · Max Roser

Projects: HankGames

Works: Harry Potter (book series) · John's novel in progress (2016) · No Man's Sky · Pokémon Go

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · EFL League One · Islamic State · Our World in Data · The Economist

Groups: The Mountain Goats

Concepts: bankruptcy · cancer · child mortality · dracunculiasis · economic growth · extreme poverty · literacy · malaria · pancreatic cancer · primary health care · sensationalism · video game · war

Places: Afghanistan · Fallujah · Guinea · Iraq · Liberia · Libya · Manbij · Sierra Leone · Syria · United States

Events: Boko Haram insurgency · Western African Ebola virus epidemic

Only in the description or credits: Canada · Lemonade

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