Yesterday we took an Ugly Look at America. It was rather depressing.
Today I thought we’d do a complete 180° and take a look at some good things in this country, and the world.
We’ll again focus on stats. Hopefully this’ll give us a bigger picture.
Jobs
The unemployment rate is currently 4.1% in this country, the lowest level since 2001. That’s still 6.68 million people without work, however.
The lowest rate ever recorded was 1% during WWI, and 25% was the highest, during the Great Depression.
Black unemployment is 6.8%, the lowest level since records started in 1972.
Hispanic unemployment is 4.9%, the lowest level since 2006.
The Dow Jones went from 18,250 when Trump was elected to 25,372 as of this morning. It rose over 12% in 2017 and the Nasdaq was up by 27%, the S&P over 10%.
In 2017, manufacturing factories had their strongest year since 2004.
Space
In 2017, NASA discovered 10 planets outside our solar system that might prove habitable for humans.
The first confirmed exoplanet – or planet outside our solar system – was discovered in 1995. Since then we’ve found 4,034 more of them.
Environment
The average global temperature actually fell from plus 1.69°F in 2016 to plus 1.51°F in 2017.
Since 1990, an average of 300,000 new people a day have gained access to electricity.
Since 2007, US greenhouse gas emissions have been steadily falling, from a peak of 7,325 that year to about 6,500 in 2015. Emissions are still up 4% since 1990, however.
Education
High School graduation rates reached an all time high in 2014-15, with 83% of students finishing school.
Asian/Pacific Islanders have the highest rates, at 90%, while students with disabilities have the lowest, at 64%.
Black students had a 69% graduation rate in 2011-12, Hispanic students 73%, and white students 86%.
It wasn’t until 1940 that the high school graduation rate first passed 50% in this country.
War
The number of worldwide nuclear warheads fell from 9,398 in 2016 to 9,220 in 2017.
Refugees coming to the US has fallen from 84,995 in 2016 to 53,716 in 2017.
Illegal immigrants seized at the Mexican border has also fallen, from 408,870 in 2016 to 303,916 in 2017.
There are currently 4 major wars taking place around the world that have caused 10,000 or more deaths over the past year:
- Afghanistan, with 23,000 deaths in 2017 and up to 2 million deaths since the fighting began in 1978.
- Iraq, with 13,000 deaths in 2017 and up to 268,000 since fighting began in 2003.
- The Mexican Drug War, with 15,000 deaths in 2017, and over 106,000 since the fighting started in 2006.
- The Syrian Civil War, with 39,000 deaths in 2017, and over 482,000 since fighting started in 2011.
In addition to that, there are 14 conflicts ongoing that have caused 10,000 deaths over the past year, and another 20 that have caused up to 1,000 deaths over the past year.
This means we’re living in one of the most peaceful times in world history.
Health
High School seniors are smoking cigarettes less, with 28.3% doing so in 2016 and 26.6% doing so in 2017.
Those living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 53% of the global population in the 1980s to less than 17% today.
Worldwide, child labor rates have fallen 50% over the past 16 years.
The amount of disposable income that Americans spend on food has fallen from 14% in 1960 to less than 6% in 2012.
Teen birth rates in the US have fallen from 89 out of 1,000 teens in 1950 to 29 out of 1,000 teens today.
