What are the biggest things that are getting better in the US and world?
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  What are the biggest things that are getting better in the US and world?
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Author Topic: What are the biggest things that are getting better in the US and world?  (Read 3099 times)
Blue3
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« on: September 27, 2014, 05:09:29 PM »
« edited: September 27, 2014, 07:46:26 PM by Blue3 »

Simple question: what are the biggest things that are getting better in the US and world?


I have a few to start us off:
* the increasing acceptance of gay marriage
* an (admittedly very slow, but still happening) decrease in unemployment
* less people without health insurance
* an increase in the amount of energy generated by cleaner sources
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angus
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« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2014, 05:42:34 PM »

Belts.  Huge ones.  The ones they sell in the US are some of the longest in the world, and they're getting longer and longer in the US each decade.
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Person Man
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« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2014, 07:18:52 PM »

Belts.  Huge ones.  The ones they sell in the US are some of the longest in the world, and they're getting longer and longer in the US each decade.


Are they getting better? Maybe it will seem that way when a large asteroid collides hits Earth and there is a global famine for five years. Same thing if GW causes a megadrought.
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Clarko95 📚💰📈
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« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2014, 07:38:29 PM »

Violence of all types is plunging (wars, crime, abuse), and global living standards are soaring (even as globalization hasn't worked for certain sectors of American society), each year sees greater educational attainment by all groups, science and technology continue to advance by leaps and bounds, medicine is finding all kinds of ways to cure diseases and other ailments.


Those are 4 big global ones I can think of off the top of my head.
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angus
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« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2014, 08:36:51 PM »

packaging too.  It's awe-inspiring.  It took me about five minutes to get into a toy we bought at Dollar Tree this morning.  My guess is that the package cost far more than the toy itself.
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AggregateDemand
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« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2014, 09:36:56 PM »

1. Energy production increasing
2. Violent crime rates still declining
3. Household gun ownership rates falling
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Chunk Yogurt for President!
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« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2014, 10:10:45 PM »

Not much.  I am very pessimistic, which is odd for a young person.
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Associate Justice PiT
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« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2014, 11:09:14 PM »

Not much.  I am very pessimistic, which is odd for a young person.

     In this day and age, I don't really fathom how someone can fail to be cynical and jaded. But that's just what I think.
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dead0man
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« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2014, 11:23:53 PM »

More people have access to clean water.
Fewer people are starving.
We are getting smarter.
The internet.
Today's cars are amazing.
A TV the richest oil tycoon in the world couldn't even dream about 25 years ago are in the homes of people on SNAP by the millions.
oh and TV is the best it's ever been.

I could go on and on.....In this day and age, I don't really fathom how someone can be cynical and jaded. But that's just what I think.
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Associate Justice PiT
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« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2014, 11:36:14 PM »

     I commend you on your optimism, dead0man. I wish I could feel the same way.
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dead0man
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« Reply #10 on: September 27, 2014, 11:53:39 PM »

I really wish you could too.  Yeah, there are still countless things that suck, and some that are getting worse, but everything considered the world is getting better, just like it (almost) always has.
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« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2014, 05:16:51 AM »

HDI and life expectancies.
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Brittain33
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« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2014, 08:06:02 AM »

I heard the other day that the AIDS crisis in Africa has receded significantly and is affecting fewer people. I think retrovirals are becoming much more widely available.

As Clarko said, violence rates in the U.S. are plunging, taking with it incarceration rates and death rates among young people. Kevin Drum makes a convincing case that this is due to the rise and fall of leaded gasoline. Similarly, rates of teenage pregnancy and abortion in the U.S. have both fallen.

The renaissance of cities in the U.S. is stunning to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and remembers cities as places people escaped from, not couldn't afford to move to. The return to cities lets us leverage older investments in infrastructure and transportation, and improve overall productivity and opportunity simply by bringing people in close proximity.

Parallel to that is the drop in drivers license ownership and car ownership among young people.
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dead0man
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« Reply #13 on: September 28, 2014, 11:42:16 AM »

Driverless cars will no doubt be safer and more efficient and better for most people, but for those of us that actually enjoy driving, it will suck.
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dead0man
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« Reply #14 on: September 28, 2014, 12:17:07 PM »

There is always on/off ramps Wink

And medium density traffic can be fun.
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angus
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« Reply #15 on: September 28, 2014, 04:40:30 PM »

Also, we're warming up the globe by living large.  And we're doing it better than ever! 

Law enforcement is better than ever as well.  Especially with GI surplus tanks and grenade launchers.  Better than ever!
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DemPGH
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« Reply #16 on: September 28, 2014, 05:18:33 PM »

Technology and secularization. Technology has presented some new hurdles, but I think we can overcome them in course and the benefits more than offset the drawbacks. 
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #17 on: September 28, 2014, 05:25:14 PM »

Access to information is more equalized than ever before.
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afleitch
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« Reply #18 on: September 28, 2014, 05:31:18 PM »

Access to information is more equalized than ever before.

As unfortunately is access to misinformation. The effect of which is increasingly disturbing.
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Frodo
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« Reply #19 on: September 28, 2014, 05:40:33 PM »

Access to information is more equalized than ever before.

As unfortunately is access to misinformation. The effect of which is increasingly disturbing.

The internet was always going to be a two-edged sword. 
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ilikeverin
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« Reply #20 on: September 28, 2014, 05:46:31 PM »
« Edited: September 28, 2014, 05:48:20 PM by ilikeverin »

On top of what everyone else has been saying... beer!  The proliferation of small breweries has led the quality of beer in general to go up in many countries.  Talking about a "good American beer" is no longer an oxymoron.

Also, as an academic: the democratization of knowledge (as exemplified by, say, Google Scholar) is really nice.  Previously, people studying topics had to pore through obscure abstract guides in order to try to find something related to what their research is about.  Now I can find all sorts of papers with just a couple of clicks... and some of them are from previously unexplored corners of knowledge.  This really helps to build connections between fields, as well as within them Grin
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #21 on: September 28, 2014, 05:54:56 PM »

Access to information is more equalized than ever before.

As unfortunately is access to misinformation. The effect of which is increasingly disturbing.

Prior to the Internet, misinformation was the only type of information many people were getting. Besides, being able to tell fact from fiction online is an acquired skill.
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angus
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« Reply #22 on: September 28, 2014, 07:33:43 PM »

Also, as an academic: the democratization of knowledge

Ah, yes, of course.  Who needs all those pesky editors and peer reviewers?  All they ever do is get in your way by factchecking.

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DC Al Fine
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« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2014, 07:57:04 PM »

UFC is replacing boxing as the combat sport of choice. Which means I don't have to deal with 743987423984 different title holders.
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All Along The Watchtower
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« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2014, 08:06:43 PM »

Access to information is more equalized than ever before.

But simply having access to information whenever people want doesn't necessarily make people better informed, or more skilled at critical thinking, or more able to exercise good judgement...etc.
Information =/= knowledge, let alone being able to utilize knowledge effectively.

And there are still big inequities in access to information, both within the population and between the population vs. governments and corporations. Some would say that those inequities are a good thing.
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