“It is a sad day for America.”
“The single worst day in American political history.”
“Nasty.”
If you’ve been watching or reading the news recently, you have likely been exposed to one of the most melodramatic political commentary seasons ever. The political climate during this presidential election has become increasingly tense and bitter, and national dialogue and discourse around the campaigns have followed suit.
Every day, pundit after pundit seems to recoil and gasp and lament. News controversies and bombshells drop constantly and with them so has our collective faith in America. After the second presidential debate on Sunday night, which came after the release of a graphic audiotape of Donald Trump’s abusive talk of women, the tone of the media has hit an all-time low.
Everyone seems to be either upset, confused or depressed, or all of the above. I too think that American politics have seen better days and admit the debates of this political season are far-removed from the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. However, I was shocked by how much anger, fear and despair has been embedded in the reactions of the media and the general public.
It’s time for us to take a step back. I have engaged in this doomsday rhetoric to express my horror and refusal at some of the events that are unfolding during this election. However, I’ve realized that in the midst of denouncing and decrying and disbelieving, we have lost sight of reality.
The truth is that if we zoom out and take a deep breath, our world and country are not sitting on the fringe of some kind of epic meltdown. The reality is that we live in a world that has launched some tremendously successful campaigns that have dramatically lowered the rates of disease, poverty and hunger, and has consistently improved the human condition.
According to the World Bank, one in 10 children died before the age of 5 in 1990. Today, that number is one in 20. According the the Gates Foundation, the last time we cut the child death rate in half (from 9 percent in 1990 to 4.6 percent in 2015) it took 25 years. The projection now indicates we can do it again in just 15 years.
Our global ability to combat HIV and AIDS has made significant strides. According to the UNAIDS report released in July 2014, the rate of new HIV infections is at an all time low, approximately 2.1 million. AIDs-related deaths have declined 35 percent since their highest in 2005 and in the last three years new HIV infections have dropped by 13 percent.
Progress isn’t limited to humanitarian goals around the world. The United States also has its own successes to celebrate. Despite the strong overall decline in violent crime, a 2014 Gallup polls found that the majority of Americans agree with the statement, “there is more crime in the U.S. than there was a year ago.” Instead, government statistics shows that outside of some small discrepancies, the general trend shows that serious crime has decreased almost every year from 1994 through 2013. An article by the Huffington Post reports that “violent crime has fallen by 51 percent since 1991, and property crime by 43 percent. In 2013 the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970.”
While there is a great deal of despair over the rise of automation and concern over how the forces of globalization will wreak havoc on traditional American jobs, it is also true that American innovation is thriving. In a column in Fortune magazine, Vivek Wadwha argues that we are living in the most innovative period in human history, with the United States leading the way. He points to major advances in artificial intelligence and robotics and to the coming wave of self-driving vehicles and how these technologies will forever change our lives.
These are just a few examples of success we have seen in the world today. Whether it is in the area of global health, poverty, technology or business this is an exciting time to be alive. I would argue that we live today in a world that is the safest, most peaceful and most innovative than any other time in history.
One of Hillary Clinton’s campaign lines is borrowed from Alexis de Tocqueville, a French sociologist famous for his observations of the United States, who wrote, “America is great because America is good.” When I listen to the political cacophony that erupts out of political scandals and commentary, I often find myself disenchanted. However, I believe that the greatness of this nation doesn’t come just from our politics or our media, but from the steady and impressive accomplishments that we collectively work towards day by day.
Shruti Rao is a Trinity junior. Her column, “taming of the shru,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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