Best Year In History

The progress made in the 20th century is staggering. Advancements in science, medicine and technology alone have brought incalculable benefits to human beings. Yet on the darker side, the 20th century was also the most violent time of human history. Two world wars, the massacres of Stalin, the Holocaust of Hitler, and many other such events killed over hundreds of millions of people and inflicted extreme suffering on hundreds of millions more that will make this period in time and period that will be remembered forever.

With all of the monstrosities that have occurred, one can only hope “that our future may be found in the past's fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare” (Zinn Ch. 1). Because it is seemingly impossible to find peace in the world, many fear that the future will be marred with violence and destruction following the example that has already occurred. Nevertheless, Zinn hopes that the future will be better than the past; he hopes that they, rather than follow genocidal acts that have occurred in the past, will follow the loving and compassionate acts that

For lead to be extracted from its ore, it has to go through a method of purification. It's after the layers of mud and rock are removed that we reach the pure substance- what is truly valuable. The ore is forgotten and the lead is utilized to benefit many. Similarly, in the novel Year of wonders by Geraldine Brooks, set in 1666 England, the village of Eyam is purified of its layers of the social stratification and blind worship. This reveals the hidden social equality and scientific advancements that occur as a result of their losses. On the other hand, some misfortune starts a cycle of further misfortune, which is seen as some slowly lose their mind due to the number of grievances they suffer. Yet, some perdition cannot be attributed to any positive gain such as the death of many children

economy. A myriad of jobs have been created, unemployment is at a historic low, many

Have you ever wanted to use a time machine and go back in time just to experience what life was like in a different era? If you have ever taken a history class, then you have certainly learned about the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War Era, and the Progressive Era. While these time periods did provide us with new inventions, different societal standards, and new leaders, they all had something in common. These eras were filled with disease, causing the life expectancy of people during these time periods to be much lower than it is today. People were dying of diseases such as measles, small pox, cholera, and polio. Today, these diseases are essentially extinct because we have made medical advances to prevent people from

George H.W. Bush deserves to be named “Person of the Decade”. He worked hard to follow his own beliefs in what was the right thing to do and achieved amazing things because of that. When dealing with the Soviet Union and Mikhail Gorbachev he established his own methods and plan instead of following Raegan’s. Soon after his plan was established things in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union began to change. The berlin wall collapsed and the communist rule through out Eastern Europe was overthrown. Bush chose to let all of these events happen naturally, cautious not to do anything to make Gorbachev’s position any worse. Bush had the policy review complete and decided to meet with Gorbachev. While in the meeting they laid the basis for completing

No, tomorrow we won’t be sending children into space to be abused, maimed, or even killed all for the sake of a common good. But, if nothing is done now today will be remembered as the day we began sliding into the this valley of the shadow of death. For this reason we must fight the growth of blind nationalism in our country and promote a unified humanity through international discourse, lest the shadows be closer than we wish to think. We must remember that, while it may feel good in the moment to eschew the chains of our ancestors, we must be wary and ensure that in our rush for individuality we do not simply change the ideal to which we are

“I tell you people are happiest where they’ve had their children and struggled along and been real folks, and not tourists.” Mrs. Ferguesson says to Miss Knightley, when she visits her after 20 years. Mrs. Ferguesson instilled this in her children as well, they all found happiness in each other. Her daughter, Lesley Ferguesson, was a young teacher who taught a class far from the family and began to grow homesick. Miss Knightly takes her young friend, Lesley, home for the weekend; where the reader then begins to understand the love within their family. The Ferguesson’s family reminded my own; my mother always emphasized the significance of having a close-knit family. Lesley and I’s families are similar in our

history did provide us with positive life lessons - to not replicate their behaviour in the

more modern history, wars have been fought resulting in the deaths of millions. Murders and

In “Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History,” Kelly Gallagher points out why she believes 2017 was the best year in human history. More specifically, Kelly argues that 2017 was the best year despite the downs that have had an affect on society. She writes, “A smaller share of the world’s people hungry, impoverished or illiterate than at any time before.” Additionally, she says that a smaller amount of children died than ever before. In this passage, Kelly is suggesting that society should also take a look and not miss the things that are going right. In conclusion, Kelly beliefs that 2017 has been the best year so far and that good progress has been made, although some things aren’t going the way she would like them too, but after all

Even wars could be avoided. Like the Iraq war back in 2012, and many innocent lives could have

Lately, it is nearly impossible to read a newspaper, read an article or even turn on your television without learning about the overwhelming amount of troubles that have plagued our world today. Contrary to our scientific development, it seems as though humanity has made hardly any advancements in the quest for world peace. The world as we once knew it is nearly gone and now the remnants of it can only be found in the precious reminiscences of the old, the dusted bindings of books, and the hearts of those who crave for society to return back to the way it was. Wars that use to be fought on enemy lines have now been brought home, governments that rose to power preaching democratic ideologies have grown to be totalitarian, and now more than ever,

I personally refuse to await the dropping of the iconic crystal ball on January 1 to declare my giddiness with regard to 2017‘s personal transformative allure! Whether it be in the personal or professional realms of my life, my mantras of declaring fear an obsolete force while growing more bold and decisive in my actions, are the same as the previous year’s…just majorly amped up!!! Perhaps most exciting for me with each

Today, in a social media ridden world where there’s no communication gap, allows news from around the world to be delivered to us in matter of seconds. Almost every day we hear about a shocking act of violence, whether it’s a terrorist bombing, a senseless rape or a gruesome murder. These tragedies makes us wonder, “What is the world coming to?” However, we forget to realize that in fact today’s world is much more peaceful compared to how dangerous life was thousands of years ago. As pinker stated, “Brutality was once woven into the fabric of daily existence” (2). Therefore, in order to understand the violence we witness today, it’s important to acknowledge how bad the world was in the past. In this paper, just as pinker did in his book “The Better Angels of our Nature”, I will also argue that violence has decreased tremendously over the centuries by using numerous evidence and statistical data. The Pacification process, Civilizing process, and other sanctions throughout millenniums are just some of the changes that resulted in the decline of violence throughout history.