Some Hope for the World

Over the past few months I admit to feeling depressed.

It's been difficult for millions of us who have lost our homes, are out of work and without medical care.

Of course, that's just the beginning of the 2010 list of woes, which is capped by the horrendous loss of life; untold “collateral” human carnage; plus trillions of dollars in stupidly squandered wealth, wrought by two monstrous wars.

But, my perspective has brightened a little due to a recent New York Times article, “Ben Franklin’s Nation”, written by David Brooks, in which he directs his readers to Swedish professor Hans Rosling’s YouTube video, “… about global wealth and well-being over the past 200 years.”

Perhaps it’s a strange accident, but today I live in the Metro Detroit area, which is often given a secondary title to “Motor Capital”, as one of the “birthing places of middle class America”.

Further, I live within the boundaries Grosse Ile, a beautiful island which is in turn is surrounded by the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

So, today, I’m counting my blessings and inviting you to view the professor’s video and read Brooks column, in which he concludes:

“For centuries, people have ridiculed American culture for being tepid, materialistic and middle class. But Ben Franklin’s ideas won in the end. The middle-class century could be another American century.”