Good news about America

The media bombard us with bad news, feeding our fears. Lost in this is the good news about America, an antidote to the doomsters. Here are some snapshots of the good news.

1. For your New Year’s Eve festivities: an inspirational speech from a great leader — One of the most popular posts on the FM website.
2. A New Year’s resolution for America —  We need fear the future, despite the tough times coming soon.  This remains a great nation, not because of our past but because of us and America’s political regime.
3. A Christmas gift to us from George Washington.
4. A crisis at the beginning of the American experiment — Looking at the problems looming before us, it is easy to forget those of equal or greater danger that we have surmounted in the past.
5. Good news about the 21st century, a counterbalance to the doomsters.
6. Is America’s decline inevitable? No.  — Why be an American if one has no faith in the American people?  How can you believe in democracy without that faith?
7. Rebuttals to the big list of reasons why America will fall.
8. For the New Year, let’s shed our fear of flying into the future — Reasons we need not fear the future.
9. Experts, with wrinkled brows, warn about the future — Experts often see the future with alarm, seeing the dangers but not benefits. That gets attention, from both the media and an increasingly fearful public. Both sides feed this process. It need not be so, as most trends contain the seeds of good and bad futures. This post considers two examples.
10. Peak Oil Doomsters debunked, end of civilization called off, 8 May 2008.
11. A snapshot of our engines of innovation, as they develop new energy sources — There are many solutions under development to the energy crises.  These things just take time, even decades, to mature.
12. “America’s Greatest Weapon” — Aspects of our culture are our greatest strength.
13. There is no “peak water” crisis —  Scarcity of potable water is a big story in the news.  The actual problem does not resemble what we see in the stories.  Rather, in much of the world water is under-priced, and underpriced goods are usually scarce.  This is the first post in this series; the second considers the real scarcities — now and in the near future — of water.
14. One of the 20th century’s top minds sees a great 21st century for humanity — Optimistic words from the greatest economist of the 20th century.
15. Why doomster stories are so popular: we want to believe America is doomed.
16. Good news: air quality in the US has improved!
17. Good news: we have endemic terrorism – but few wars and epidemics.
18. Good news from the IMF about feeding the world’s people.
19. The good news in our past gives us reason for confidence about our future.
20. The good news of history: it’s a story of less violence & better societies.
21. Good news: the singularity approaches! — Amidst the gloom that envelopes both Left and Right, evidence grows that another discontinuity in history approaches — a singularity. If so, it will evaporate many of today’s problems and create new ones.
22.  Good news: a new industrial revolution has begun! — Let’s let’s look at the new industrial revolution. Our experience with the last industrial revolution shows us the potential and peril that lies ahead. It will be exciting. Let’s work to make it fun, not painful.

Good news about climate change

1. Good news: rising seas might not cover these Pacific islands.
2. Prof Botkin gives us good news about our changing climate.
3. The easy solution to the looming monster methane apocalypse.
4. Good news! Coal bankruptcies point to a better future for our climate.
5. Good news from China about climate change!
6. Britain joins the shift from coal, taking us away from the climate nightmare.
7. Good news from America about climate change, leading the way to success.