Good News

Imagine my surprise to run across an article in the Washigton Post Sunday that was positive! It was positive on many different levels too, including the title, And Now For Some Good News! This is a rare occurance, so I just had to share it with you.

By now Americans know the litany: The nation is engaged in a difficult and costly war in Iraq; Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon; gas prices are high; the costs of reconstructing the Gulf Coast region are huge; illegal immigration is a major problem — and more.

These issues are real and pressing. But they aren’t the whole story — and they ought not color the lens through which we see all other events. We hear a great deal about the problems we face. We hear hardly anything about the encouraging developments.

What? Did I read that correctly? “…and they ought not color the lens through which we see all other things.” I truly cannot believe that a reporter from any newspaper, especially the Washington Post would be so positive! Here is more about the indicators:

Social Indicators: We are witnessing a remarkable cultural renewal in America. Violent crime rates remain at the lowest levels in the history of the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ survey (which started in 1973). We are experiencing the sharpest decline in teen crime in modern history. Property crimes are near the lowest levels in the history of the federal survey. Welfare caseloads have declined almost 60 percent since 1996. Both the abortion rate and ratio are at the lowest levels we have seen in the 30-year period these data have been tracked. African American and Hispanic fourth-graders posted the highest reading and math scores in the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test. The use of illegal drugs by teens has dropped 19 percent since 2001, while the use of hallucinogens such as LSD and ecstasy has declined by more than half.

There could be hope for us yet. Okay, so author, Peter Wehner, isn’t all rainbows and rose petals as he lists a couple of things on the rise such as the birthrate for unmarried women being at an all-time high and “…in many respects our popular culture remains a cesspool.” But, the positives outweigh the negatives for the most part.

The economy is hot! We have the strongest economy in the world and it’s growing faster than any other nation’s economy. Hmmm, wonder why this hasn’t made the news too often since it’s been steadily getting better and better?

The unemployment rate (4.6 percent) is well below the average for each of the past four decades. Mortgage rates remain near historical lows, homeownership remains near a record high, and sales of new and existing homes reached record levels in 2005. Real disposable personal income has risen almost 13 percent since President Bush took office; and core inflation rose just 2.3 percent over the past 12 months.

These are hard numbers, folks. Unlike the bad news about Iraq, the Global War on Terror, President Bush and so on, which is based on opinions and political interpretations. Not to mention the jaundiced view of the left versus right.
The last of Mr. Wehner’s article is about National Security and rather than pick and choose what to quote, I am going to share with you his views and opinions.

Perhaps no nation has ever been as dominant as the United States is today — and we are using our military power to promote great purposes. As a reference point, it’s worth recalling that the 1930s and early-’40s were regarded by many as the twilight of freedom. Democratic societies were threatened both internally (by a depression) and externally (by Nazism and fascism). There were only a dozen or so democracies on the planet. Today we are witnessing one of the swiftest advances of freedom in history. In the past four years more than 110 million people have joined the ranks of the free — and for the first time freedom is taking root in the Middle East. Once ruled by cruel dictatorships, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are now governed by constitutions and are participating in national elections. The governments of the two countries once provided safe haven to terrorists; now they are engaged in a mortal struggle against them. This struggle is longer and harder than any of us would wish, but by any standard or precedent of history, Afghanistan and Iraq have made remarkable political progress.

Kuwait’s parliament has granted full political rights to women. Arab intellectuals are pushing for a rapid acceleration of democratic reform. After almost 30 years, Syrian troops left Lebanon in response to the Cedar Revolution. And Libya has abandoned its program of weapons of mass destruction. The biggest nuclear-smuggling ring in history, run by Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan, is being rolled up. The government of Pakistan has cast its lot with us against al-Qaeda.

Islamic terrorists have been denied sanctuaries, their networks are being broken up, their leaders are being incapacitated and they are on the run. Our homeland has not been attacked since Sept. 11, 2001. And we have set aside decades of mistrust to put relations with India, the world’s most populous democracy, on a new and fruitful path.

This account does not mean that everything is going smoothly. Every day we are reminded that hardships are real. Grave threats persist. Missteps have been made along the way. And more can always be done. But we are witnessing significant progress on many different fronts, and there are authentic grounds for optimism.

The Sept. 11 attacks, two wars, a recession and the worst natural disaster in our history have been turbulent and draining events. History-shaping periods often are — and so, not surprisingly, the nation is unsettled. Yet the United States is a deeply resilient and hopeful country. The trajectory of events is in our favor — and with the passage of time, all this will become clear enough.

Alright, the article is not written by a Washington Post reporter, but the deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, but that does not make the numbers and facts regarding the economy and the social issues any less true. Yes, his views on National Security are part opinion, but some events happening here and in other countries, i.e. Kuwait’s parliament granting political rights to women, Syrian troops leaving Lebanon and that the U.S. not being attacked since 9/11, are all fact. So, dear readers, I wanted to share with you a positive outlook and some facts to back it up. Don’t let the doom and gloom weigh you down too much because there are positives, too.