Forget the Media. 2018 Was An Excellent Year
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
If you give the mainstream media any credit, then you’re likely convinced that the world is crumbling. Our economy is crashing, the environment is corroding around us, international affairs are the worst ever, and violent crime is rampaging out of control. Poverty is choking the life out of people around the world, and everything is just bad all of the time.
It’s absolutely ludicrous that they stick with this narrative. It’s easily debunked. The mainstream media says 2018 was terrible because Donald Trump was President the whole year. In reality, 2018 was pretty much the best year humanity has ever experience by every conceivable metric, and it was the United States that led that prosperity. Forget the negativity; 2018 was awesome.
Economics
We can’t talk about the state of the country or how good a year was without including the economy. Let’s cover the bad news first. The last quarter of 2018 hit below expectations. Stock markets tanked pretty hard, and they erased a fair amount of wealth in the process. Even while that was happening, the year closed with the highest wage growth we’ve seen in close to 20 years, record-low unemployment, and the first annual 3-percent GDP growth since the early 2000s.
Those things happened while very bad stock markets were hurting the overall bottom line. If stocks hadn’t taken that turn and just stayed flat, the GDP would have been close to four percent for the year, and effective wages would have been nearly half a point higher.
This shows us that the economy in 2018 was massive. We added almost $2 trillion of new wealth to the country, and despite what leftists will say, that wealth was spread all around. We know that because poverty levels hit a record low. Then, they continued to sink through the year.
That’s probably related to the all-time low unemployment numbers we saw for minority groups in the country. Black and Hispanic employment numbers have never been better anywhere at any time in our planet’s history. That alone sounds like a pretty good year.
Part of the strong economy came from America finally achieving energy independence. We’re now the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and we’re number two for coal production. We’re exporting more than importing in all three areas, and that means that we are beholden to exactly zero foreign countries to maintain our status quo. Oil embargos and dirty politics with the Middle East are things of the past. Energy independence is possibly the most important thing that has happened to our country under Trump.
International Standing
You’ve heard enough about Trump’s success with North Korea and against ISIS, but those wins actually started in 2018. The first ever peace talk between the U.S. and North Korea was this past year. Things accelerated quickly, and while there’s still a lot of negotiation left to do, North Korea went from a perpetual nuclear threat to a burgeoning trade partner in the matter of months. It’s a huge win for the whole world.
Similarly, we’ve seen the need for American military interference shrink globally. The effective defeat of ISIS and taming of Russia and Syria has dramatically reduced one of the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history. Add to that the pressure we’ve applied to Iran, and the Middle East is the most stable it’s been in decades. It’s still a region of turmoil, but ignoring progress doesn’t do any good, and big progress has been made.
While that happened, Trump signed a number of international trade agreements this past year, including a replacement to NAFTA. Those agreements are part of the robust strength of our booming economy. They’re also part of why Trump has risen to be one of the most popular leaders in the world. Seriously, Trump’s domestic approval rating is currently better than that of Theresa May, Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron.
The Other Good News
If none of that was enough, 2018 saw national declines in murder and violent crime. It saw the U.S. continue to lead the world in reducing so-called greenhouse gases (despite leaving the Paris Agreement), and it was the third consecutive year that observed a decline in global temperatures.
If you want a summary of 2018, it might go something like this. Every issue that the left said would bring the sky crashing down actually improved in 2018. The economy, global temperatures, violence, humanitarian problems, poverty and every other primary concern saw dramatic improvement over the last year. Ignore the media. 2018 was great, and 2019 has every potential to be even better. Let’s celebrate that now is the best time to be an American.
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This must be a dispatch from some alternate reality. Trumpism sucks...
It's sourced from a TEAparty mouthpiece.
LOL!
As opposed to the majority of the mass media. Which is clearly biased against Trump in every possible way.
Telling the truth about Donald Trump's statements is not an editorial bias.
Nope and not recognizing the mass medias obvious editorial bias, IS clearly bias though.
Its that or simple stupidity.
Apparently, you are used to Fox News and Limbaugh/Hannity. NPR/BBC are among the least biased sources for news.
When you are used to a biased source other sources with less bias look biased to you. It's called perspective.
Lol, being lectured on "perspective" by you.
Now that is hilarious. Thx so much for the laugh.
I'd like for you to revisit this claim about what you think are my questionable perspectives.
2018 a good year?
Sure.
For the Russians to extend their financial, geopolitical and personal interest in the Middle East, Asia, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, Africa, S. America, Latin America and even here in the US apparently.
And the Chinese are doing well enough. Despite some financial setbacks their financial imprint is being felt in every corner of the world.
The US? Our debts/deficits, financial influences and geopolitical standings are weakening.
Yes 2018 was a good year. Depending on where you stand.
2018 wasn't a good year for Cohen, Flynn, and Manafort.
Sean Spicer, among other Trump officials, didn't have a good year.
Things are still shaking out. We will see how much Americans care about foreign powers influencing American interests into their own geopolitical interests.