I am a geezer. I am NOT a Pollyanna, but I occasionally cheer me up by reminding myself that no matter how bad a lot of things seem to be now, they were much worse not so long ago.

Problems in the Mideast? At least both sides keep trying for peace in spite of all attempts to derail the process. I remember when they only talking that was done was done with weapons. Bad news from Russia? I am a member of the bomb shelter generation. I remember cowering under my school desk during the drills. Now we've got Americans and Russians sharing a space station. Racial tensions? I remember when we couldn't use the same bathroom and interracial dating was a hanging offense. China coming down hard on dissidents again? I remember when the PRC and the West were mutually terra incognita. Now the mainlanders are surfing the same sites I am. Bad news from Africa? I remember apartheid. I remember when the smart money said it would take the mother of all blood baths to eliminate it. Dead American sailors? I remember the body bags from Viet Nam.

Is everything just peachy today? Of course not! We humans have still got a very long way to go, but we've also made some progress and it can't hurt to occasionally remind ourselves of that.