Volcanoes are erupting in The Philippines, but on-fire Australia received some welcome rain. The Iran war cries have been called off and The Donald’s military powers are about to be hamstrung by the Senate. Meanwhile, his impeachment trial is starting, and we’re all on Twitter for a front-row seat.
2020: Not Just a Dumpster Fire
The year's good news aggregation of good news aggregation
Emma Varvaloucas
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We seem to have collectively agreed: “The best thing about 2020 is it’s almost over.”
We’re not going to Grinch up your excitement that 2020 is indeed almost in the rearview mirror. Good riddance to mostly bad rubbish. But one nice thing about the year TIME has declared, in a fit of millennial-speak, “the worst year ever,” is that suddenly we’re into finding the bright spots. Probably because we’re one coronavirus-mutant-strain announcement away from completely throwing in the towel.
There are a few lists of 2020 good news floating around: The Washington Post did one (definitely geared to their audience), as did Wired. The Solutions Journalism Network gathered their standout stories. Positive News UK is doing a countdown on their social media. Our favorite, and the most comprehensive, is the one from Future Crunch. They’ve got 99 solid reasons for soldiering forth into 2021 with the belief that we’ll make it into 2022, including that:
- Myanmar has completely eliminated trachoma; Togo, sleeping sickness. Wild polio is officially gone in the entire content of Africa, and we are at the lowest levels of AIDS deaths since 1993.
- Saudi Arabia and Palestine banned child marriage; Pakistan approved a new anti-rape law. In Sudan, female genital mutilation is now illegal.
- It’s not just the rich getting richer: the earnings share of the world’s poorest half doubled in the last 20 years.
On the domestic front, some TPN additions: The New York Times thinks there is opportunity for bipartisan cooperation. A second round of cash payments is (finally) on their way, and MacKenzie Scott is setting new philanthropic norms.
From us: We couldn’t resist. Our Members grappled with the big stuff—everything from climate change to the battle for America’s soul—all year round. We made our own list of 10 ideas from 2020 to bring into 2021.