Politics
Having a difficult time finding positive news about national and global politics? Search no further! From public policy to positive leadership to democracy efforts, find the latest good news stories in the world of politics at The Optimist Daily.
Court grants ‘priority status’ to historic youth-driven climate case
Back in September, we wrote about a groundbreaking court case filed by young activists from Portugal that demanded 33 countries to make more ambitious emissions cuts to protect their future physical and mental wellbeing. Those countries include all the EU states, as well as the UK, Norway, Russia, Read More...
New fathers to get as much paid leave as mothers in Finland
In Finland, a coalition of five political parties began their terms in office this past December. All five parties are led by women of whom four are under 35 years old, and one of their main priorities is gender equality. In a testament to this goal, Finland’s government has announced plans to Read More...
Jacinda Ardern is showing politicians how to lead during a crisis
As a citizen of any country, the dream is to have a leader who does everything in their power to make sure their country’s people feel heard, informed, and safe. And if they can avoid all the typical political buzzwords and jargon, then that’s an added bonus. During the coronavirus, political Read More...
The value of female leadership during a pandemic
Different approaches to managing the pandemic lead to vastly different outcomes across countries. Some, like New Zealand, have effectively eradicated the virus, while others wait anxiously for vaccine relief among rising infection rates. Looking at what went right in countries like Norway, Iceland, Read More...
How car-free streets unite communities: A firsthand account from Oakland
The Optimist Daily has never been shy to support urban planning that favors pedestrians over motorists. Not only does it make the streets safer, but it can also clean up the air in a city dramatically. But beyond all this, perhaps the biggest benefit of clearing the streets of cars is that it turns Read More...
How Phoenix is feeding the hungry and saving local businesses
Like most cities around the world, Phoenix, Arizona had its restaurant and hospitality industries ravaged by the pandemic. When the city received its federal CARES Act relief, it decided to allocate $951,000 towards an ambitious goal: saving the city’s farms and restaurants and providing food to Read More...
Deb Haaland slated to be first Native American Interior Secretary
In 2018, Deb Haaland, alongside Sharice Davids, became the first Native American woman to serve in Congress. A longtime advocate for the environment in her home state of New Mexico, Haaland is now slated to become the first Native American Interior Secretary. If confirmed, Haaland, a member of Read More...
New LA district attorney introduces sweeping reforms
Los Angeles County has a new district attorney and he is making some big changes in the county’s criminal justice system. Newly sworn-in George Gascón reports that the district attorney’s office will no longer seek cash bail for any misdemeanor or non-violent, non-serious felony Read More...
The Optimist View: Best of 2020
"Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else." - Fred Rogers While 2020 has felt like a long, strange “fever dream”, to quote one of our staff members, there were lots of positive solutions to be found. Whether it was advances in medicine, Read More...
Filter designed for the ISS will provide clean drinking water on Earth
From LED lights to digital cameras to GPS, innovations designed for the purpose of space exploration have long benefitted life here on Earth. Now a company that designed a water-purification system for the International Space Station (ISS) aims to use that technology to help solve the global water Read More...