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Was 2017 the "Best Year Ever?"
On January 6, 2018, Michael Kristof, an editorial writer from The New York Times, proclaimed 2017 “the best year ever.” Here are some of the impressive list of accomplishments affecting human welfare in 2017 that he brought to our attention as proof:
- A smaller share of the world’s people were impoverished, illiterate, or hungry
- A smaller number of children died
- Every day more people have access to electricity
- More people gained access to drinking water
- More children’s lives were saved by vaccinations
- Fewer people have been blinded by diseases such as trachoma, disfigured by leprosy or suffer from other ailments in general
Did I miss something?
While impressive, there must be more to this story. Let’s balance this view with a look at some other, quite different, events of 2017:
- President Trump took office
- Las Vegas Strip shooting
- Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting
- Hurricane Irma
- Bombing at UK Ariana Grande Concert
- Hurricane Harvey
- Texas Church Shooting
- Orlando Police Shooting
- San Bernardino shooting
- Hurricane Maria
- Southern California wildfires
- Death of Tom Petty
…and many more
So what’s up here? Your list may be different, but it’s clear that 2017 may have been great in some ways, but certainly not in others.
It turns out that, in 2017, Mr. Kristof also wrote about positive life changing achievements in 2016, against the backdrop of the world’s negative news stories. He will probably do so again in 2019 about 2018. His real message this year, and in all years, is that our progress should empower us to battle the world’s “moral threats.” There are certainly many of them to attack.
At The Make Life Good Company, each day we see far too many people who appear to have missed the train of success, who received the “bad hand,” or who simply need a friend. We are saddened by our observations. That’s why we strive to “remind, encourage and inspire” people to make life good for others.
It would be wrong for all of us to think we are done now because of our achievements in 2017, no matter how impressive they may have been.
But we don’t think you will.
Together, let’s make 2019 the “best year ever!”
The Make Life Good Team
