Making sense of 2016!

 Pondering over what happened in the world in 2016, the Brexit, vote the Trumpification of American politics and the ultimate electoral victory, Putin's resurgence to significance, European protectionism & anti-immigrant sentiments around the world, the Philippines voters getting a mass murder into power.. Something seemed really wrong with the world. But then you start to think about it - liberalism wasn't supposed to be easy, progress wasn't supposed to be easy either, but it was.. all along the last five decades or more. But trying to make sense of it all wasn't easy. My overtly simplistic view was that this was the (beginning of the) revenge of the forgotten, the anti-liberals, the older people (in most cases) and the ones prosperity and progress did not get to. But kudos to Fareed Zakaria and the team for an excellent piece this week in the Economist  that explores what happened and makes a very sincere appeal to the liberals not to give up and this is also a step towards progress.

I, on the other hand, want to point out to the liberals, the millennials and anyone who's listening, let me throw out some future facing optimism:

1. Roughly 52% of world population is under the age of 30 - albeit primarily in Asia and emerging economies > younger age, fresher ideas, lesser stigma and more adaptive to the changing world
2. For those who worry about women empowerment in general will be delighted to note that average life expectancy of women in the world is about 4 years more than men, and about 35% of all institutions (registered businesses) ownership in the world is now women > So, women are making a mark and will live longer to make it!
3. According to a new World Bank report, between 1990 and 2013, the number of people in extreme poverty (defined as less than $1.90 a day) fell by nearly 1.1 billion, even as the world’s total population expanded by nearly 1.9 billion. This one is personal, with all the travels, I've seen what these folks don't have and it's delightful to have this statistic evolve!
4. Saturday Night Live (SNL) will continue to give us laughs for the next 4 seasons, at the expense of our 45th President-Elect of the United States, the Donald!
5. If all else fails, there are still another 13 other exoplanets (and more coming!) already discovered  that can support human life - so there is definitely going to be a WAY out!

So there you go, that's my way of making sense and looking ahead for 2017 and beyond! Let me know what you think.Sources/Credits:Image sources (Putin Trump) & license) and Brexit

1. 52% of world population claim
2. World Bank Development indicators
3. Poverty removal
4. SNL
5. Exoplanets to support life