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1/Today in @bopinion, I decide that America can have a little optimism, as a treat! https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-30/doomscrollers-take-heart-america-s-on-the-way-back?sref=R8NfLgwS
2/The last year made us feel like America was a nation in steep decline. And in some important ways, it *is* in decline.
But not all ways. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-29/coronavirus-brings-american-decline-out-in-the-open
But not all ways. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-29/coronavirus-brings-american-decline-out-in-the-open
3/On the vaccination front, despite a slow start, we're outpacing most of the rest of the world.
4/COVID has everyone talking about China eating our lunch...and perhaps they may.
But on vaccines, it's not even clear how well theirs work, and they've kinda been reduced to spreading bad rumors about ours! https://qz.com/1959855/chinas-coronavirus-vaccine-diplomacy-is-anti-vax/
But on vaccines, it's not even clear how well theirs work, and they've kinda been reduced to spreading bad rumors about ours! https://qz.com/1959855/chinas-coronavirus-vaccine-diplomacy-is-anti-vax/
5/Economically, we've bounced back since the summer, and we're now in the middle of the pack for the whole pandemic.
6/U.S. manufacturing is bouncing back somewhat! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-05/u-s-manufacturing-gauge-expands-at-fastest-pace-since-2018?sref=R8NfLgwS
7/And though poverty has risen as a result of the pandemic, it's only back to the levels of 2018. The pandemic has been terrible, but it has only canceled out 1 year of poverty reduction.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/u-s-suffers-sharpest-rise-in-poverty-rate-in-more-than-50-years?sref=R8NfLgwS
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/u-s-suffers-sharpest-rise-in-poverty-rate-in-more-than-50-years?sref=R8NfLgwS
8/Why hasn't it been worse?
Because Congress (mostly) did its job for once. https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/the-us-government-gave-out-way-more
Because Congress (mostly) did its job for once. https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/the-us-government-gave-out-way-more
9/The CARES Act was, as the kids say, a banger.
10/And even though some relief measures were interrupted in the summer (thanks Mitch McConnell!), we ended up dishing out a good amount of relief over the year. And now we're doing more, and Biden will do even more.
11/Now let's talk about our biggest *long-term* threat: climate change!
Did you realize that the bipartisan COVID relief bill we passed in December was also a major climate bill? https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/coronavirus-relief-biggest-climate-bill-history-hydrofluorocarbons-wind-solar.html
Did you realize that the bipartisan COVID relief bill we passed in December was also a major climate bill? https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/coronavirus-relief-biggest-climate-bill-history-hydrofluorocarbons-wind-solar.html
12/And American science, industry, and government policy have combined to produce a massive technological revolution in solar and batteries.
That by itself won't fix climate change, but it has made fixing climate change POSSIBLE! https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/climate-change-isnt-that-hard
That by itself won't fix climate change, but it has made fixing climate change POSSIBLE! https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/climate-change-isnt-that-hard
13/So on climate change, poverty relief, and vaccines, America is doing a lot better than people realize. Still not nearly as good as we COULD be doing, but a lot better than lots of people think.
14/This is not to make light of the deep dysfunctions that remain in our country, or the enormous challenges that await us.
15/But if it's not yet morning in America, at least we can say that it's probably after midnight.
(end) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-30/doomscrollers-take-heart-america-s-on-the-way-back?sref=R8NfLgwS
(end) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-30/doomscrollers-take-heart-america-s-on-the-way-back?sref=R8NfLgwS
