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I'm going to start listing some good things that have happened in society, and I know a lot of you are going to want to say, Well, that's all over now, it will all be taken away, but remember nothing lasts forever, even the bad stuff. So, instead of giving into despair and hopelessness, think for a second, and instead of tearing down hope, add to the list.
The idea that we would have open legal gay marriage in my lifetime wasn't something I believed would happen, but here we are.
I can buy legal recreational Marijuana in my state.
The show Drag Race not only exists, but it has for a long time, and it's very popular.
AIDS is no longer a death sentence.
And to add to that, you can take a drug that will just stop you from getting it.
There is a vaccine for Malaria.
I can just go buy an electric car.
When I was a kid, parents hitting kids was the rule, not an exception.
In my teens and 20's, I never met a transitioned or transitioning Trans person, now I know lots of them.
Abortion pills exist.
There are tenant union.
There is a vaccine against cervical cancer.
Women make up more than half of the college educated work force.
Millions of people showed up to protest police brutality in 2020, I know that's not enough, but if you compare that to the past, or even Rodney King, it's a big fucking deal.
Things are rough, and we are scared, but we haven't just been treading water, and we won't just sit in misery. It's never going to be perfect, but we can be better.
@RickiTarr One bit of medical science that I find really impressive is the care we can give for premature babies. If I'd been born at 26 weeks' gestation, there is no way I'd have survived.
Babies born that prematurely today have an excellent chance of growing up to be healthy adults.
@RickiTarr Oh, and cancer. While it still kills way too many people, we are much better at treating it now than a few decades ago. Many people who would have died if they'd been diagnosed with cancer in the 1970s will survive if they are diagnosed with exactly the same cancer today.
Interesting to note that while journalists love to talk about "breakthroughs", there haven't really been any in cancer treatment. Just a great many incremental improvements, which over the decades add up to a lot
@statsguy This is also true for heart attacks and strokes, they are very good at stopping and repairing them now. That's why if you suspect you might be having one get to the ER ASAP, and see your doctor regularly if you can.
@RickiTarr Oh yes, that too! And quite apart from treatment, we are way better at preventing them in the first place.
@RickiTarr @statsguy Do people even still say "as serious as a heart attack" or "as funny as cancer"?
2020s:
"My husband had a heart attack/has cancer."
"Oh, that's terrible. Do they know how long he'll have to be in the hospital?"
1970s:
"My husband had a heart attack/has cancer."
"Oh, that's terrible. Which funeral home should I send flowers to?"
@Gorfram
When I was a kid near Manchester in the 1960s I'd hear my mum talking to aunties or friends about other friends or relatives and if someone said, 'she's in the Christie' there'd be a sad shaking of heads and a change of subject. The Christie is Manchester's specialist cancer treatment centre but 60 years ago few patients survived long.
@RickiTarr @statsguy