Publishers Perspective: Call Me An Optimist.
– By Josh Warburton –
Sitting down to write my piece for this month, the things on my mind are mostly around appreciation and gratitude. Having just received an email with a new poll of Americans on a myriad of issues, it made me feel very grateful and happy with what I have in my life and my attitude towards it.
According to this Morning Consult/Politico poll with a margin of error of just 2%, the vast majority of Americans are not happy with the direction the country is headed. That particular stat saddens me. I say that because while we have a significant portion of our population that lives in poverty, especially for the richest nation in the world, the overall quality of living in America is quite high. No, we don’t have great healthcare, and I think addressing that would really improve people’s outlooks on life.
And we do have a fair amount of violence in this country, and as of late. That said, statistically, violent crime has been going down for around 25 years with little bumps in the road and a bit of an increase in the last couple of years. I think much of that can be attributed to improvements in access to opportunity and programs that help support those at the lowest end of the economic scale. And violence is in our faces, in the news a lot lately. The war, mass shootings, violent protests, and political uprisings are all covered in an outsized fashion in our news.
When I look around my small community, I see so much good going on. People helping each other, holding the door open, offering to do things for each other, and frankly, not a lot of crime. And yes, I’m very aware that I am fortunate to live in an area without masses in poverty and all that comes with that. And I do realize my perspective is certainly my own.
Maybe I’m just an optimist, but I see a positive prospect for the future in our country. Much more attention is being brought to inequality and issues that are frankly solvable, mainly with public policy and persuasion. And I see a new generation moving into their power with modern sensibilities and perspectives. We will undoubtedly see a great reckoning with many of these issues in the decades to come.
So I will admit to being in the minority on this one. I think life is great. I think our country is great. I think we have many problems, but we also continue to work on solutions. That’s what I see in our future. So yeah… call me an optimist. I’m ok with that.
Happy reading!
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