The upside of our times
All throughout the Trump presidency, even more obviously today, one notion is true: things aren’t that bad…
Admittedly, it is not always easy to see the good in any given situation, when said situation feels overwhelmingly negative (sometimes rightly so), no matter how temporary that feeling is. In other terms, regardless how positive and optimistic we may otherwise be, we all have our moments when all we see is the downside of things rather than the upside. That is a perfectly understandable reaction, especially in times like these past few years, when bad news seemingly kept on appearing every day on the web, on TV, in real life…
But, and that is one massive “but”:
it isn’t that bad anymore now: the election of Joe Biden — and Kamala Harris — is a demonstrable sign that things are looking up. And by that, we mean that a decisive majority of the American electorate showed up in support of the more moderate democrat, in clear opposition to the outgoing president’s legacy of extremely polarizing, and too often downright unjust decisions. This is of the utmost importance, as it shows that these policies are being effectively rejected by an overwhelming part of the US population. That’s good sign if there ever was…
it was never that bad: granted, the Trump presidency hurt a lot of Americans (especially this year, with its appalling handling of the Covid-19 crisis). Granted, it cast a web of crises and issues throughout the world, including in Europe, the Middle-East, Asia… Granted, it undermined the geopolitical clout the US held until recently, to the point that it fragilized the very notion of liberal democracies everywhere. However… the American democracy is still very much alive; Europe hasn’t started World War III (as far as we are aware); China is not openly shooting missiles at India… in other words, the worst was avoided. And there is clear hope it will remain that way.
it is never that bad: this is the more sensitive point of my argument here, but bear with me… Human history being written by, well, human beings, it is never linear and, as President Obama just reminded everyone in this remarkable Breakfast Club interview, things can occasionally move backwards. But what is most important is the overall, long term direction. And that direction is unmistakably positive: the plight of African-Americans has drastically improved over the past decades (not to mention the past centuries); the plight of working class citizens has immensely improved in virtually every part of the world over the past 50 years (or more); individual freedoms and social progress have continued on their path towards more accepting societies: abortion, same sex marriage, health coverage… these are topics that are spreading around the globe, no matter how much local politicians may be trying to curtail them in the short run.
In the long run, we are all better, not dead.