Things to Be Thankful for in America

By Timothy Hayes on November 27, 2014

America might not have the best crime ratings in the world, we might still have problems with race even after a century and a half of being slavery-free, and the world definitely hates us, but America has a lot to be thankful for.

Despite the claims of conflict all over the world according to the media, global conflict has been on a downward trend since the beginning of the 20th century. That may seem harder to believe because of the world wars, but it has been shown by Human Security Report Group that global organized conflict is at an all-time low. Despite major conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, South Sudan, and Mexico, overall the number of people dying from violence is down. The media likes to latch onto war, but “new” is news because it’s unusual.

On top of that, terrorism is on a downward trend for the US. Just ten years ago, according to the Global Terrorism Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the US was number twelve on the list of most likely places for a terrorist attack. As of last year, the US was number 30, ranked below China, Russia, India, and the UK. It might seem like the world has gone down the drain and dissolved into lawless violence, but for America, things are pretty peachy.

Terrorism isn’t nearly as likely to kill you as homicide, especially if you live in the US. The US has a very high violent crime rate. Causes aside, the ultimate fact is that the US, despite having a homicide every 37 minutes, is far from the top of the list for homicides per capita or in absolute rates. Last year, the US had 14,827 homicides reported in 2012. Compare that to Nigeria’s 33,817 in the same year. You’re more likely to die in a car accident driving home for Thanksgiving than you are to be murdered.

Speaking of car accidents, you’ll be glad to know that as you travel this weekend, you’re safer than you’ve ever been on the roads. With crash protection sophistication increasing yearly, the number of deaths in car accidents has been on a consistent downward trend since the 1990s. Many have seen cars with their crash protection ratings as their main selling point and with good reason. Cars have more airbags, safer crumple zone, better seatbelts, and higher crash survivability than cars ever had in the past. So take to the roads and enjoy some turkey.

Speaking of food, you’ll be happy to know that since 1981, global poverty has decreased significantly. The number of people living on less than $1.25 a day has dropped 52% since then. The world mean income was approximately $10,000 dollars last year. The US tops the charts in humanitarian aid with over $4.7 billion being spent in 2013. Global hunger is on a downward trend from 1990.

So despite all the awful things happening in the world today, really it’s getting better. This week, as we remember all the things we have to be thankful for, let’s remember these.

The Global Terror Map 

The Global Conflict Tracker

The FBI Crime Clock

World Bank Poverty Overview

CDC Fast Stats on Car Deaths

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