+
opinion
+
Text your #FFA submissions to 785-289-UDK1 (8351)
"I woke up covered in parmesan cheese and there was mulch all over me... I was inside." mondays amirite
KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Hownis it possible to wake up and already be ready to go back to sleep for the night
I hope this tornado comes and sucks up all my problems.
I know I'm burnt out with school when my favorite thing to look forward to about the week is the end of it
I miss the days of going to the dentist and being able to pick out a prize when I was done
I just tried to come up with a funnier way to say this but I was so freakin disappointed in Jurassic World
People who chew with their mouth open can u not
Always need a nap or a snack in my 3 o'clock class
There's always that one person who talks really slow during group presentations that puts everyone to sleep
say this until you believe it: I'm gonna b ok
They say fake it 'til you make it. Sounds like what I've been doing my whole college career
It's so cool that chips are edible spoons for dips
My feelings about this semester: !@&!*@{&igf
Once I sneezed at a stoplight and the guy next to me thought I dabbed so he dabbed back...
READ MORE AT KANSAN.COM
@KANSANNEWS
/THEKANSAN
KANSAN.NEWS
@UNIVERSITY
DAILYKANSAN
Illustration by Jake Kaufmann/KANSAN
Burbank: Optimism is crucial in today's ever-changing world
▶ JESSE BURBANK
@Jburbank1
Among its many lessons, this year's presidential election shows the strength of pessimism in American life. Donald Trump captured this feeling in his uniquely disjointed way, asking, "So, when was the last time you've seen our country win at anything? We don't win anymore [...] Whether it's ISIS or whether it's China with our trade agreements, no matter what it is it seems that we don't seem to have it." Statements like this
have propelled him to victories across the country, and may eventually usher him into the White House.
But Trump's appeal cannot be fully explained by his celebrity, media prowess or ability to capitalize on big-try (remember banning all Muslims?).
No, Trump is tapping into something much deeper in the American psyche a sense of decline, of instability and decay that seems to be shared by an increasing number of Americans. Indeed, 56 percent of Americans believe the next generation will be worse off than this one, according to a recent CNN poll.
We live in a healthier, wealthier and better educated world than ever before. According to World
But reasons for optimism, both in our nation and the broader world, far outweigh reasons for pessimism.
Bank, over 90 percent of the world now completes primary education, up from 81 percent 25 years ago. During the same time extreme poverty has more than halved, falling from 43.1 percent to 20.6 percent of the world as globalization has spread opportunity to billions of people formerly denied a chance to succeed. Global life expectancy has risen simultaneously, with the average person now living five years longer today than in 1990.
Domestically, signs of economic and social progress persist. We now live in a more open, tolerant society. As The New York Times writer David Brooks puts it, the United States has never seen a time "when so many global cultures percolated in the mainstream, when there was so much tolerance for diverse ethnicities, lifestyles and the complex directions of the heart,
when there was so little tolerance for disorder, domestic violence and prejudice."
Likewise, real GDP per capita in the U.S. is at its highest point according to the Federal Reserve, and unemployment now rests at 5 percent, which is considered full employment by the Bureau of Labor statistics.
Of course, optimism is not cause for complacency. We still face tremendous challenges, including domestic inequality, climate change and terrorism.
These threats require national and international responses. For example, real wages in the United States have remained stagnant for the last several decades, contributing to a surge in income inequality, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
National governments must take steps to combat these threats, like vastly unequal opportunities and
outcomes. As historian Tony Judt warned in his book, "Ill Fares the Land," "Grotesquely unequal societies are also unstable societies. They generate internal division and, sooner or later, internal strife usually with undemocratic outcomes."
But never in the history of our species has the opportunity to a live free and fulfilling life been so available to so many different types of people. Don't fall prey to cynicism or nostalgia for a romanticized, imaginary past. The present is the greatest time to be alive. And, with sustained effort, it will continue to be better than before.
Jesse Burbank is a junior from Quinter studying history, political science and economics.
- Edited by Samantha Harms
HOW TO SUBMIT A
LETTER GUIDELINES: Send letters to editor@kansan.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line.
Length: 300 words
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The submission should include the author's name, year, major and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
CONTACT US
Vicky Diaz - Camacho
Editor-in-chief
vickyde kansan.com
Gage Brock Business Manager gbrock@kansan.com
THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Kate Miller, Gage Brock and Maddy Mikinski
+
+