For 18 months, this newsletter has studiously avoided all mention of the B-word. Here on the Upside, we are interested in saving the ship of life, not in who should sit next to whom as it founders.
But it seems churlish to ignore it on such a momentous day. Though we are broadly remain-minded in this team, we have wondered if there might be any silver linings to be found framing the Brexit cloud.
Larry Elliott, our economics editor, has been wondering the same thing. Read his cautiously optimistic assessment here.
On a related note, let’s also just recall how much Britain has changed over the past 50 years. In 1973, almost half of us smoked, cancer and infant mortality rates were far higher than they are today, our carbon emissions were almost double what they are now, and air pollution, measles rates and life expectancy were all far inferior to today’s readings.
Against that, the average house price in 1973 was under £10,000, there were only 11m cars on the road compared with 30m now, and antidepressant prescriptions were barely a tenth of today’s levels.
Not all of these ups and downs were the EU’s doing, of course. In fact, that has been part of the problem: it’s very hard to say for certain how Britain would have fared over the past 47 years if it had been outside the EU. Perhaps the years to come will give us an inkling.
Otherwise, just three good things to point you towards this week.
Finland leads the way in teaching people how to spot fake news. Three-minute read.
It’s been a pretty bad era to be a bee. Which makes the survival of the colony at Notre Dame even more remarkable. Four-minute read.
And finally, a decisive Guardian move to confront the fossil fuel industry. 90-second read.
Lucky numbers
Portugal’s progress in tackling a chronic drug problem has been remarkable: overdose deaths have reduced by more than 90% since 1999, according to the Statista data analytics team.
The US might also have turned a corner, after a wretched decade steeped in opioids. Drug overdoses dropped 4% in 2018, and overall life expectancy inched ahead for the first time in three years.
What we liked
The next time you fulminate against rich people as all a bunch of money-grabbing chisellers, remember this New Yorker piece, which demonstrates that some of them are a force for good.
Meanwhile, we’ll be keeping close tabs on this – an initiative by our fellow travellers at the US-based Solutions Journalism Network to work with 12 newsrooms on developing revenue streams based on Upside-style journalism. Good luck, all.
What we heard
So many of you responded wisely and wittily to our request for thoughts about happiness last week. Too many to run them all, so herewith a selection:
Paula Simmons wrote from the US:
Peace while living (as opposed to resting in peace after dying) is more important to me than being happy. Seems a better goal for me, as I’ve lived with anxiety and depression since I was a child (61 years old). And in these times, even more important.
Graham Cole cited Greek philosophy as positing that we are happy if we don’t feel a need to seek happiness, and added:
I think it’s much more important to have love; either giving love or receiving love is beneficial but experiencing both should be the ultimate goal. People seeking happiness through materialism have a poor life compared with people seeking happiness by giving and receiving love.
Maneesha James weighed in with some Buddhist musings:
Happiness is a good springboard. When we are happy we are more open to life and see possibilities that we might otherwise be unaware of. But happiness, just like any other feeling, comes and goes. Far better to understand that and to have the capacity to inwardly observe all thoughts and feelings without becoming attached or identified with them.
And Lu Emanuel looked beyond the transient.
Joy is better than happiness. It is deeper. It comes from within, not dependent upon ease or accomplishment.
Jacqueline Cornwell went back to some sage advice to her teenage self.
When I was a teenager, I received two pieces of advice which have stuck with me. ‘Pleasure is the enemy of happiness. The only thing that can make you happy is self-discipline,’ and ‘nothing you put in your body will ever make you happy’.
Alan Hill had few regrets.
I’m very content which is better than “Happy”. At 73 years (not in the best of health) I can look can look back on a lovely life, l’ve been so lucky but one regret, I do wish I could have done more for the less fortunate.
And Ian Greasley connected it all neatly back to the Upside.
There is no doubt that a moment of happiness is a good thing. It’s not a state of mind that could be with you 24/7. I’m a person that thinks about the planet and the general well being of mankind and nature. The steady bad news on those issues wears me down too much. I read your good news stories and follow David Byrne’s online publication and appreciate that sort of news but it feels like throwing a pebble at a giant.
Where was the Upside?
Finland may be tackling fake news – but so is the Guardian. In partnership with the National Literacy Trust and PSHE Association, the Guardian Foundation’s NewsWise is a cross-curricular news literacy project for primary school children aged 9-11 with a mission to create a generation of news, media and digitally literate young people.
If you want to find out more do drop us a line.
