Optimistic By Choice

Things are dark right now, but there are plenty of reasons for hope. Subscribe to my Substack for regular doses of optimism, silver linings, and big picture blue sky thinking. substack.com/@optimisticb...

Too real

Love me some good news.

Lena did a great job. She was one of the best things about the Biden administration. Here's to hoping the adults will be in charge again, soon.

This is the sort of thing that gives me some hope. Trump doesn't know how to make or keep friends, and you need them to get anything done in Congress.

I wonder if people around Trump are paying attention. The guy doesn't treat his bootlickers well when he's done with them.

Test one two. New to Blue Sky and was never a Twitter person. Do y'all see this? It's weird to have 400 followers and 0 comments or likes on posts.

Check it out, @mattmihaly.com, host of the No Tacos for Tyrants podcast, put together a starter pack of Blue Sky users against fascism. Give them a follow!

Happy Martin Luther King Day. Let's I Have a Dream for a minute. How exactly did MLK envision achieving equality? substack.com/@optimisticb...

Big W on the board for a four day work week. After a six month experiment in the UK involving 61 companies, 54 kept it, citing all kinds of positives. www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1...

Damn @theifs.bsky.social that's a chad number of accounts to be following. Super influencer over here.

Our World in Data is great. Some of their stats feel like sports "record" statistics -- Lebron James sets high score for points scored on Tuesday night after calling a timeout -- but who cares. "Children under the age of five" may be specific af, but it's still an optimistic stat

WHAT?! That's INSANITY

This is a great piece highlighting the actions people are taking. There's enough news about how the sky is falling, it's a breath of fresh air.

"Pay attention to what he does, not what he says" This is a great thing to point out @iandunt.bsky.social. The reason I'm optimistic about Trump's presidency is that he's gonna SAY a lot, but is unlikely to DO much. He passed one thing with his 2017 trifecta - a tax cut. Nothing more.

When we talk about wealth redistribution, it's not about anyone taking from Peter and giving to Paul. No, UBI is pro-capitalism; its about giving everyone a shot at building their own wealth, a chance many don't have. Its about creating stronger economies where everyone benefits.

A fairy art exhibit in my town! Turned a corner and BAM there it was. I love finding stuff like this, it makes me feel like my city is alive with community

TL:DR Good news -- the RealPage housing cartel is scary news, but they really don't have much influence. The upshot -- we're better off focusing our efforts on building more homes.

On the one hand, this is hilarious. On the other hand, the first rule of internet is don't feed the trolls! And Trump is the *huuuuuuugest*

1. Hundreds of companies who pledged to stop donating to members of Congress who voted to overturn the election on 1/6/21 have broken their promise over the last 4 years But we've identified 10 promise keepers: Farmers Airbnb Expedia Nike Clorox General Mills Holland & Hart Qurate Whirlpool Lyft

Sharing some random musings and positivity perks midweek. Hang in there Blue Crew resistors. We have a safe haven here. We vent, recharge, regroup share, care support and repost in our better in togetherness manta.

There's a lot of distressing stuff in the news right now, but it's important to keep in mind how far we've come as a species. Just 100 years ago: Life expectancy was half Infant mortality was double Women couldn't vote in much of the world Electricity wasn't widely integrated And more.

Every time I block an only fans bot, two more replace it

I learned she got sacked on Reddit and it made me sad. I learned Mark Cuban wants to pay her money to continue working on Bluesky and it made me happy.

Just finished the Hail Mary Project. Story is about humanity recognizing a common threat and working together to stop it. And a zany spider alien that speaks in piano chords. A+ 💯 recommended

Hello from Würzburg! 👋🏼

I've been researching the idea of Unconditional Universal Basic Income since 2013. Here's a collection of findings I've compiled from various UBI experiments and studies of cash transfer programs around the world. This will be a VERY LONG and ongoing thread focused entirely on empirical evidence. 🧵

NEW report: How can the government meet its housing targets? The latest in our chronic policy problem series - we look at why past governments have failed to meet their targets and 10 principles the government should follow to set a better record. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Good news! Half the drop in the US fertility rate is because women under 19 are having next to no children. archive.md/cJY3B

Research team stunned after unexpectedly discovering new method to break down plastic: 'The plastic is gone ... all gone' www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/p...

If you need a jolt of optimism, Jimmy Carter's Voyager letter is a great place to start.

I'm on the Blue Sky train. And if I do say myself, I've chosen the *perfect* profile banner thank you very much.