Is the world getting Better or Worse?

It is a simple question. You can ask anyone anytime, anywhere and get a good discussion going. But watch out, the answers you get may surprise, and the discussions can get out of hand. I have been asking this question for a number of years and the results continually surprise. I try and guess ahead of time what my respondent(s) will answer and am wrong at least 1/2 the time. You think older people all think the world is going to hell in a handbasket? Ask a few and see for yourself.

My current working theory? Everyone has a personal view of themselves and a working world view. As they take in and absorb news, it is filtered? by their world view. We tend to listen more closely to news that agrees with our world view (and conversely shut out conflicting news and opinions). It takes an open mind or a LOT of opposing information to shift our strongly held views.

But why does this person have a negative view when they seem like such a positive person otherwise? No idea. Why it is so much fun asking this question and getting people riled up.

The rules are simple as is the question. The only possible answers are Better/Worse

Is the world getting Better or Worse?

Yes, many things are better or worse, but if you have to pick just ONE answer to ONE question...what is your answer? It tells a lot about you.

Me. I'm a Better person. Why? My simplest answers...

- Civil rights, (women, gay people, black people)
- Democracy is growing steadily
- Education. Educate a person and their whole life changes

Yes, the wars keep happening, but are certainly no worse than just a few generations ago. We are slowly but surely pulling ourselves along...as long as we still have a planet to live on to get far enough along this path to congratulate ourselves.

Good Guys. Bad guys

First impressions are so important. You start a new job, come across as professional and keen. Everyone has a positive opinion of you. Human nature says that the initial impression will colour everything you do after that. Sleep in a few times, come in drunk after lunch...not so bad...cause after all the overall impression is positive. Takes a lot of consistent bad to re-write that initial impression.

Google and Apple are(were?) the good guys. It was hip to have a Mac, use Google long before it became a behemoth. It could now be argued that the 'cool' guy is now 'the man'. Yet, we persist is thinking of these internet giants as the good guys. The evidence is piling up. Serious secrecy concerns, "locked in' software, predatory market practices.

In my youth, I travelled to and lived in Israel. I wanted to see what commune living was like, so I ended up on a kibbutz (met my wife there). Even after visiting Palestinians pushed off their land, I was still fully behind the Israelis. This attitude held all thru the 70's, 80's and 90's. But then Israel started losing its sense of space and power. The attacks on Lebanon and Gaza over the past few years are indefensible in my view. Yes, there is a big, complex problem in the region, but bombing the crap out of everybody (and making even more young teens into extremists) is not just the wrong answer...it makes Israel the bad guy.

I have become much more cynical lately. I am starting to go over all my views (a lot of them can be broken down into simplistic good guy/bad guy), looking for obvious flaws. I have always thought of my view of the world as pragmatic. Essentially, it still is, but pessimism is creeping in. Just because I am older? No. Less naive.

Why do I like the actions/opinions/attitudes of young people? Not because they are smarter..but they are more in tune with what is currently going on...and pessimism has not affected their view of the world. Pessimists only have the one skill.