As you’ve probably noticed, a lot of the news you get is not exactly positive. The media loves drama, and that usually means focusing on all the negative things that are happening lately. Sure, the modern world has its issues, but it’s not all bad. Plenty of wonderful achievements and amazing milestones have been reached in recent years—they just tend to fly under the radar.

One of the three pillars of my Self-Wealth philosophy is Hope. I believe having Hope is key to living a happy, fulfilling life. Without Hope, life becomes very grim, indeed. It is important to place your Hope in something, whether you focus on your family, your career, the causes you care about, your future adventures—whatever gets you excited to jump out of bed in the morning.

Today, let me bring a few kernels of Hope into your life. Here are 15 positive facts and tidbits about the present day (to help warm your heart on these cold winter nights!):

Environment and Animals

sun shining through forest

  1. As of April, 2019, America’s renewable energy capacity was greater than that of coal for the first time in history. (Source: NRDC)
  2. Mountain gorilla populations are rising. While still critically endangered, their population increased from 480 in 2010 to 604 in 2016. (Source: NRDC)
  3. Forest cover has increased across the globe by two million square miles, or 5%, since the early 2000s. (Source: Inc.com)
  4. Pet adoption is on the rise, and the number of euthanized animals in the U.S. has dropped by 75% in the past 10 years! (Source: Bold Business)

Health and Medicine

stethoscope on notepad

  1. Using stem cells, scientists are now one step closer to curing type 1 diabetes. (Source: Inc.com)
  2. Researchers in England have developed a blood test designed to detect breast cancer “up to five years before a lump or other symptoms appear.” (Source: NY Post)
  3. Scientists are making strides in developing Alzheimer’s medications. One drug called aducanumab has showed a “lowered cognitive decline (about 15% to 27%) on memory and cognitive ability tests compared to a placebo.” (Source: NY Post)
  4. Good news for those with peanut allergies! Stanford University has been successful in curing peanut allergies by injecting subjects with an antibody called etokimab.

Global Strides

sun rising above the earth

  1. Extreme poverty is down The population living on less than $1.90 per day has dropped from about 35% in 1987 to less than 11% in 2013. (Source: Vox.com)
  2. Terrorism is on the decline. According to Inc.com, “Worldwide terrorist attacks fell by 33 percent in 2018 compared to 2017.”
  3. Education is improving across the world, with more people attending school for longer. We still have a lot to do to improve access to education, but even in developing countries, the average years of schooling have been growing swiftly. (Source: Our World In Data)
  4. Hunger is declining. According to the Global Hunger Index, hunger has decreased worldwide between the year 2000 and 2017 by an astounding 27 percent. There’s still work to be done, but we’re certainly heading in the right direction. (Source: International Food Policy Research Institute)

Positive Economic News

why invest in stock market

  1. Unemployment is way down in the United States. As of November, 2019, the unemployment rate for people older than 20 was only 3.2 percent. (Source: The Epoch Times)
  2. In the U.S., businesses added almost two million jobs in 2019. (Source: NY Times)
  3. Mortgage rates are now cheaper, due to interest cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2019. (Source: NY Times)
  4. Consumer spending continues to be strong, and according to The Epoch Times, “disposable personal income (DPI) increased $87.7 billion (0.5 percent) in November.” (Source: The Epoch Times)

So, there you have it! There’s plenty to celebrate in our world today. Although we still have work to do to improve our environment, healthcare, economy, and more, we’re making strides in many areas and there is reason to HOPE for a bright future ahead.

 

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