“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .” wrote Charles Dickens 150 years ago.
The words certainly apply to our own times — and to almost every “times” since Dickens. Never in history have more human beings enjoyed more freedom than they do today. Never have so many young people benefitted from available education. Never have there been so many miracles of health care. Never have so many lived so long. Never have humans (and animals) enjoyed so many marvels of environmental comfort. Never has technology provided so many life-enhancing amenities as earth’s residents enjoy today. Never has so much wealth been so broadly distributed among so many people as it is today. Never has a wider variety of food been spread across so much of the planet over so many days of the year. “Best of times” examples go on and on.
Unfortunately, some focus on conditions signaling the “worst of times.” Widespread ignorance points to the shortcomings of education. Sickness, pain and suffering have certainly not been eradicated. Distribution of wealth is far from ideal. Discrimination and racism continue to plague humanity. Violence is much too pervasive. Positive moral influence from family, religion and education seems to be fading. Vital social interactions diminish as humans increasingly rely on lifeless technological interventions, leaving youngsters years behind in social development.
Human beings have the freedom to choose between celebrating the “best of times” or dwelling upon “the worst of times.” The wisest choose to celebrate the best of human accomplishment while working to remedy the worst of human failure.
Those who choose best-of-times optimism are likely to find growth, success and happiness. Those who choose worst-of-times pessimism are more likely to be mired in frustration, failure and disappointment.
Admittedly, the choice between optimism and pessimism is influenced by family, friends, environment and social experience, among other things. These days, the choice is often influenced by misinformation from social media and misguided celebrity figures, including a recently defeated president.
It also seems true that positive or negative attitudes tend to be habitual and self-reinforcing.
Finally, age may have an influence. Young people are more positive because the future belongs to them and they have confidence in their ability to correct the mistakes of their predecessors. Older folks grow negative because they remember their own years as the “best of times” and fear coming generations are intent on compromising their achievements. (That’s where the MAGA movement comes from.)
Our form of government is designed to facilitate positive growth while at the same time identifying and correcting negative developments.
This month we celebrate events long ago when brilliant optimists such as Thomas Jefferson (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”) conversed civilly with crotchety old pessimists such as Benjamin Franklin (“It’s a republic if we can keep it”). Working together, they created a dynamic democracy that continues to function more than 200 years later, despite many challenges along the way.
Today’s challenge is to learn from the past while having confidence in the future . . . to use knowledge of yesterday’s mistakes to avoid similar mistakes today . . . to celebrate successes instead of agonizing over failures . . . to focus on the “best of times” while not ignoring the “worst of times.”
Like Jefferson and Franklin, today’s leaders must bridge the gap between generations, the growing chasm between optimists and pessimists. That requires compromise from true leaders in both groups. And electing true leaders requires full participation by all citizens, young and old, best-of-timers and worst-of-timers.
(Don Gale)
Don Gale has been a Utah journalist long enough to have written about both the best and the worst of times.
