The world is a positive place. No matter what has happened, those of us reading this are still here and love is present in our lives. The human race has evolved to be more compassionate and more conscious. There are many nay-sayers that do not see this positive trend. This blog is here to present the case that the world is more positive than many people believe it to be.

The human spirit is amazing. This author has personally witnessed tragedies around the world and seen the human spirit rise to the occasion. When tragedies happen, people rush into the path of danger to help their fellow humans. Love consistently overcomes fear.

Sources that profit from a negative view of the state of the world often get more attention than the every day goodness of humans toward each other. It is important for the spirit of humans that people realize this negativity is just a veneer fostered by corporations and politicians. Fear can manipulate consumption and votes. People can rise above this veneer of negativity and see the positive nature of the world.

General trends show a positive evolution in the state of humans in the world. If we look at these trends over time it becomes clear that the situation of people in the world is getting better. Here are just a few examples of this positive trend:

• In 1900 one in 10 (10%) of all infants died before their first birthday; in 1998 the infant mortality rate was 7 in 1000 (.7 %) (Moore).
• There has been a steady decline in world poverty from 94% of the world population living in poverty in 1820 to 51% of the world’s population living in poverty in 1992 (Roser).
• In 1900 the average manufacturing wage, adjusted to 1998 dollars, was $3.40 and in 1998 the average manufacturing wage was $12.50 in those same 1998 dollars (Moore).
• The rate of violence, including things like death from war and death from crime has decreased significantly over the last several centuries (Pinker).

These are just a few examples of many positive trends that most people either don’t know about, or ignore. To see these trends requires a longer time interval. The every day goodness of people overcomes the short term variations in how we view the state of our world, resulting in a positive evolution.

All of these areas of our experience, and many others, have positive trends that are not newsworthy. Since these trends are not newsworthy, we do not hear about them. It is the negative that we hear about because the negative is the exception. News sources only report on crises and fears. Since the positive happens much more often than the negative, the positive is normal.

In this blog I will explore the positive things that are often lost in the shuffle of a busy modern life. I hope to inform, as well as generate thought and debate, on the positive evolution of man and how that evolution affects the earth. Much of what I believe is tied up with the increasing consciousness of man as we become aware of the effects we have on each other and on the earth. I hope you will join me in this exploration and share your thoughts and knowledge with the rest of us.

About Me

A little about me: I have lived and traveled all over the world teaching about politics and business. Having lived and taught in a number of different cultures gives me a broad perspective. I have witnessed people’s reactions to earthquakes in Turkey, typhoons in Korea, and hurricanes in the United States. I have also lived in areas seeing ethnic conflict, lived on the edge of war zones, and witnessed the might of the American military. All of these experiences have led to me believing deeply in the inherent goodness of human beings. Humans have an amazing ability to do “good” in the most difficult of times.

I have a doctorate in Political Science and enjoy keeping up with the news in the United States and the world. At this time I live in Taos, New Mexico and relish gardening, creating glass art, teaching for colleges and universities part time, and traveling several months a year.

I plan to post a new one or two page article every week in this blog. I hope some of you will comment on what I post in this blog and contribute to a sharing of ideas. My hope is that this blog will help point out many of the positive trends that are going on.