Akbar's barber

I have been contemplating what is our feeling about today's state of affairs and would like to articulate a few thoughts.

First - an Akbar story.

Emperor Akbar asked his barber how he was doing.  The barber said, "all is well with the world, and thank you very much your Highness for that gold coin you had given me as a gift."

At the next shave, Akbar asked his barber how he was doing.  The barber said, "the world is falling apart..!" 

When asked why, the barber said, "someone stole the gold coin you had given me."

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I read this in a comic strip in middle school and this lesson has stuck with me, i.e. am I projecting my personal situation, positive or negative, upon the world?

The new variation of this lesson also can be, am I taking the news and social media headlines, to project onto the state of the world?

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It is tough to discern all of this of course, but with these two above cautions in mind, how might I surmise my feelings on this July 4th?

1.  Is the sky falling, political commentators on the left or right have us believe?

2.  Do people with left and right persuasions really hate each other?

3.  Is the economy as much in decline as is feared?

4.  Were the prior decades the halcyon days, and we are living in a state of permanent decline?

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Two more filtering thoughts, before, I proceed to my own views on all of this:

A key question to ask, I have learned is, "says who?!"  i.e. according to who is all the above true or not true?

Secondly, I imagine the answer is never all or nothing, 0 or 10, as it were - it is kind of in the muddled middle, tending one way or the other.

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My thoughts on these questions:

Living standards:  I wonder how we might be doing if we went far back and compared ourselves to medieval times.  We might be better technologically, medically, longevity wise compared to a medieval prince?  But even in the 20th century, the difference might not be as dramatic - but one could make the argument that every decade since the 1900, there has been gradation of progress along these dimensions for the overall population. 

Access to information:  Nearly everyone has access to a mobile phone these days.  In fact in his address to congress, Indian PM Modi this month said, that if you give cash to a street side fruit vendor in India today, he or she would prefer a mobile payment.

Representation:  From the Military to the board room, to entertainment, there is more diverse representation.  Can it be more?  Is it a constant struggle?  Sure.  But surely we would agree it is more than it was even as recently as in the 60s?

 

Violence:  I am persuaded by Steven Pinker's argument that overall violence in human society has declined dramatically since Biblical times.

 

Akbar's barber:  If I could indulge playing Akbar's barber for a second, I personally would declare the state of affairs as quite amenable.

Politics:  There is massive din in the political arena.  But when has it not been the case?  We have a franchise.  Let us exercise it!

Supreme Court and other major institutional rulings:  How is it that we declare the Supreme Court or any other institution illegitimate when we don't like their rulings?  Can't we limit the arguments to we disagree with it and engage in a contest of ideas?

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My summary:

With all the personal bias any statement I make would entail, I would like to say that:

I celebrate this time with great satisfaction with family, friends etc. 

I take the media hand wringing with a grain of salt. 

I take the political posturing as coming with the turf. 

I contribute to charitable causes that I care about (ALZH). 

I take the diversification of the world (including an aging population) a demographic reality. 

Finally, I also take the progress in human affairs as a muddling-forward, rather than a sliding-backward.