Our World Isn't A Total Nightmare And These 39 Things Prove That, As Shared Online

There has been a major breakthrough in meaningfully extending the lifespan of people with ALS using [medicines] that are already on the market and FDA-approved. Their effectiveness at treating ALS was discovered as a direct result of research funded by the massive influx of donations from the various "Ice Bucket Challenges" of the early 2000's.

The state of Illinois has been working to eliminate food deserts, and prevent the loss of independent grocers in small communities.

One example is in the southernmost town in Illinois, Cairo. They opened a grocery store in June. It's a co-op style store, so it's community owned and operated. This after 7 years without access to fresh food.

It's become a life changing service to some members of this community already. While it's been having some struggles, there has been a great deal of support from the community and from surrounding communities, which has me convinced it will pull through the struggles.

If this succeeds long term, it will stand as a model for other communities to utilize in eliminating food access issues.

The days are long and the years are short as a criminal defense attorney. Sometimes I feel discouraged, hopeless, and exhausted. Last year, I took on a military service member pro bono because I sensed he needed my help and needed any hope I could offer him. I convinced a therapist to take on his case pro bono, too. Over the next year, he chose to be sober, attended therapy each week, and really worked to change. This week, I successfully dismissed his case. At his graduation, he told me he once had no hope for future and seriously contemplated [taking his life]. But now, he is hopeful and looking forward for the future. Despite how hard my job is most days, it gave me the strength to keep going.

Teen pregnancy rates hit a historic low in 2022

I work as a mental health therapist.

There is certainly a mental health crisis, AND, there are also a lot of people who are recovering. Most of the people who I see end up recovering and graduating from therapy within a year.

We talk a lot about how bad mental health is. We don't talk a lot about recovery in mental health.

The solar farm that is being installed in my rural area (that will power 10,000 homes at least) is ahead of schedule in construction

Extreme famine has been decreasing significantly the past decade on a global scale

I know this is older news, but maybe people aren't aware of it.

Researchers/scientists have been working with a bacteria to fight cancers. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin has been used with some success to fight bladder cancer.

Edited for clarity.

Edit 2: [here](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9377996/) is a more in depth article I found.

I lived in Los Angeles during the eighties, in Van Nuys. I didn’t realize that there was a mountain range to the north of the valley. I drove through in 2013 and there was very little smog. I have been told by people I know who live there that the smog is like ten or twenty percent of what it was in the eighties.

This graphic: [Yearly Cases of Guinea Worm in Ethiopia](https://cdn.who.int/media/images/default-source/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/figure1_20200525.png?sfvrsn=9288b1a6_1&Status=Master).

I look this up again when I'm having a bad day or humanity starts to seem awful to me. We can be, but we also did this. We reduced cases of a horrifying, agonizingly painful parasitic infection that destroys lives and livelihoods from over 1,000 cases a year to 7 - and that's just in Ethiopia. A lot of hard-working people did some amazingly good work.

I am getting along great with my wife and we are growing as a couple. Most of the world is totally unaware. I also built some speakers I really like. Maybe 2 people know that.

There's a growing optimism about the inevitability of renewable energy. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the most salient point is this: Renewable energy is technology, not a resource. Resources are finite. Technology is ever evolving. If you're familiar with Moore's Law, you know that technology is always advancing to become more powerful and more affordable.

Religion is dropping off more and more.

My daughter is 11 and in middle school. I always ask her if there are any bullies or like popular people. She always tells me that no one really bully’s and there aren’t really “popular” people that leave everyone else out. When I was in school all anyone ever cared about was being popular and there were tons of bully’s. If what she is saying is true, it gives me hope.

Medicine and treatment for many ailments has progressed through the years improving quality AND quantity of life

Graphene: The discovery of graphene has opened up new possibilities for creating strong and lightweight materials that can be used in electronics, energy, and other fields.

The US is planning on building high speed rail. The first one is expected to be done by 2028.

The sun is still going strong

Child mortality rates are steadily improving. Same goes with literacy rates, access to clean water, schools, medicine, woman's rights along with most any stat relating to universal quality if life on earth.