Things are great, but they’re miserable, too
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In rereading the opening lines of Charles Dickens' “A Tale of Two Cities,” I had the sense they were written last week, not almost two centuries ago.
Scanning the book's next few lines, I'm even more convinced Dickens is describing 2024 America: “It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.”
I'm a news junkie who pores over magazines, newspapers and websites every day. Minutes after being buoyed by a report of more equality, better health, expanding rights, growing prosperity and increased justice, my mood will sink into the depths when I realize how far we have to go.
The number of Americans without health insurance decreased from 14.5% in 2008 to 8.0% in 2022. That's progress! But the life expectancy of Black Americans is still more than five years shorter than for white Americans. For American Indian and Alaska Native citizens, the difference is 11 years. Sigh. We do have a long way to go.
The American economy grew faster last year than that of Canada, Germany, France, the UK or Japan. At the same time, the distribution of America's wealth is more unequal than in any of those five countries. The wealthiest 10% holds 79% of this country's wealth.
American democracy survived an attempt to keep Donald Trump in office even after he lost the 2020 election. Still, despite being indicted on 91 criminal counts, most polls show him ahead in the upcoming November contest.
The right of women to reproductive freedom was stripped away by a 6-3 Supreme Court vote in the 2022 Dobbs case. Three members of the majority were appointed by Trump, who lost the popular vote in 2016. Those three justices along with Clarence Thomas were confirmed by senators who also represented only a minority of the American electorate. But since 2022, voters have made their opinions known. Each of the seven states that voted on reproductive rights in the wake of Dobbs, including red states such as Kentucky, Ohio and Kansas, have resolved to protect them.
By one important measure, racism in the U.S. is declining. Only 5% of Americans approved of interracial marriages in the 1950s. The number in this decade is 94%. On the other hand, antisemitism in the United States is on the rise. Jews are just 2% of the American population, but they are victims of 60% of religious-based hate crimes according to the FBI. Moreover, the number of white supremacist propaganda incidents last year increased to 7,567 cases, a 12% increase from 2022.
In his last speech as president, Ronald Reagan declared, “Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas.” Nobel prizewinner Paul Krugman showed the validity of the statement when he wrote last week, “Overall, then, immigration appears to have been a big plus for U.S. economic growth, among other things expanding our productive capacity in a way that reduced the inflationary impact of Biden's spending programs.” Bravo for immigrants? Not necessarily. Trump wins applause from supporters when he says immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Thank goodness for the fast delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. UCLA professor Andrew Atkeson estimates the availability of the vaccines had saved 748,600 American lives by June 2023. Being current on my vaccinations might have even saved me. I caught COVID-19 at my family's Thanksgiving dinner last November. It was no worse than a mild cold. And yet fewer than a quarter of American adults are up to date on their COVID-19 shots. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has used his anti-vax rants as a springboard to run for president as an independent.
Ten of the world's 12 largest companies by market cap are American. Seven of them are tech companies founded since 1975 and headquartered in either Silicon Valley or Washington state. I'm not saying there aren't problems, lots of problems, with a free market system, but the dynamism of American capitalism improves the standard of living and provides good jobs to tens of millions. Will this continue? A 2021 poll showed over half of 18- to 24-year-olds have a negative view of capitalism. I live on a college campus and would bet the number has only increased.
The first federal gun safety law in 30 years was passed in 2022. On the other hand, there were 39 mass shootings in 2023, the highest number ever.
There's a lot more I could add to the list, but that's enough for now. If Dickens' words speak to me across two centuries, what the Talmudic sage Tarfon said two millennia ago calls out to me even more strongly: “It's not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to neglect it.”
What is the work Tarfon is talking about? To make the world a better place for us and future generations. He is reminding us that the world will never be perfect, but we should all do our share in improving it.
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