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.
These countries are using COVID-19 to tackle climate change
Although COVID-19 shut downs gave the environment a brief respite from emissions and pollution, the fight against climate change is far from resolved. As we move forward and begin to reopen our economies, we look at case studies in South Korea, France, and Italy where policy makers are taking Read More...
Ferguson, MO elects first African American and first female mayor
Six years after the shooting of Michael Brown by police which sparked protests and solidified the Black Lives Matter movement, Ferguson, Missouri has elected its first black mayor. Ella Jones took 54 percent of the vote this Tuesday and is also the first woman to hold the office. Jones has Read More...
Thought leader series: Why good leaders make us feel safe
Think about a leader you admire. Maybe it’s a teacher, a manager, or your local political representative. Why do you like them? Why do they inspire confidence? As part of our new thought leader series, The Optimist Daily founding impact investor, Rinaldo Brutoco, launches into what makes a Read More...
Period poverty: New Zealand to provide free sanitary products to schools
Period poverty is a term that describes where girls or women are unable to afford or access sufficient menstrual hygiene products. It is often seen as a problem confined to developing countries, but several studies have exposed that period poverty impacts millions of people in the world's Read More...
Why one California city is extending their UBI experiment
In the winter of 2018, the city of Stockton, California chose 125 residents to receive a basic income of $500 a month. The experiment is part of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) program designed to measure the effects of universal basic income (UBI). We shared an article Read More...
Answers to commonly asked questions about rights of protestors
The First Amendment guarantees the right of all Americans to protest peacefully, but many of us still have questions about what our specific rights are at these protests. If you plan on taking part in protests, here are some most common questions answered by Timothy Zick, a professor of Government Read More...
Hiring America: The case for creating a 21st-century climate corps
When millions of Americans were jobless during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the US government created a number of public works programs to get people working as a part of the New Deal. One of those works programs led to the creation of the environmentally focused Civilian Conservation Corps. Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: Why civil disobedience and ahimsa (nonviolence) triumph in the face of injustice
In the marketplace of ideas, does love still trump violence? By Kristy Jansen “We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.” Anti-colonialism activist Frantz Fanon was fighting racism and black oppression in Algeria and Martinique when he wrote these words, Read More...
What you can do to support racial justice in the US
We at The Optimist Daily are committed to sharing solutions, even when the problems we address are complex and deep-rooted. Many of the issues we cover are hotly debated and almost all do not have singular solutions, but rather require a constant dialogue to move towards a better future. The issues Read More...
Spain is implementing a universal minimum income. What is that?
In April, we shared a story about the Spanish government’s plans to introduce a basic income program—though it wasn’t clear whether it would be implemented on a country-wide scale. This week we got to know that Spain has decided to implement what it’s calling a national minimum income, Read More...