10 Hard Facts That Prove the Sky Is Not Falling

The media loves to have you believe that everything in the world is constantly getting worse and that things are bad overall. It is great for clicks, as negative, sensationalist headlines grab attention and get people talking. It also isn’t hard for them to do so, as in a world with over eight billion people and a couple hundred countries give or take, you can easily fill up an entire day, every day, with negative news.

However, facts don’t lie, and the facts show that the sky is not falling. In fact, if anything, the sky is stronger than ever.

Related: 10 Insane Conspiracy Theories About the World We Live In

10 Stock Exchanges Are Rallying at Record Numbers

Stock markets are not something that most of us spend too much time thinking about. The average person doesn’t have any serious amount of money invested in the stock exchanges. Plus, they don’t tend to shed much of a tear if a millionaire investment banker loses some money on a bad deal or because the market went sour.

However, it is still seen as an important indicator of the overall economic health of the region that the stock exchange does business in. For this reason, even if we would prefer not to care, the health of the stock markets can be important to pay attention to when the economy is volatile. That being said, there is reason to believe that the economies around the world are doing quite well overall after the pandemic, as stock exchanges are rallying.

In the United States, stocks recently closed at record highs due partly to reassurances from the Federal Reserve about interest rate cuts and partly due to the overall health of the markets. As for our friends in Europe, their stock exchanges are doing good as well. For similar reasons, European stock markets just had their best quarter in over a year, and experts believe there is a good chance the rally will broaden.^[1]

9 The U.S. Housing Market Is About to Get a Bit Better

The United States housing market has been notoriously bad for several years now, with prospective home buyers often finding it nearly impossible to buy a home, no matter how much money they have to put down. They find themselves making ridiculous offers and competing with others who are making ridiculous offers. At this point, many are just desperate to find any home at all and are tired of finding out that they got outbid again and again. Now, while it may be some years before builders can make enough homes to fit demand, things are not all bad. Though demand is still higher than supply, there is some good news.

While the deal still has to receive final court approval, a settlement with the National Association of Realtors has produced results that should benefit everyone. The entire issue is extremely complicated, but the essence is that a system going back to the early 1990s increased commissions in a way many felt was unfair.

This system led to a kind of double dipping with commissions on the side of buyer and seller agents, and this often ended up as part of the seller’s final closing costs. The new system will allow buyers and sellers more negotiating power and the ability to set commissions with their agents themselves. And finally, while supply is still low, experts do not fear a crash.^[2]

8 Jobs Are Recovering Post-Pandemic with More Jobs Than Workers

The COVID-19 pandemic traumatized the world and is still so fresh in our minds that most people don’t like to spend too much time thinking about it. However, despite how much many of us would like it all to go away and pretend it was just a bad memory, those who study history and medicine will be going over the pandemic with a fine-toothed comb for the rest of recorded history.

And when it comes to this historical analysis, the most important part will almost certainly be the gigantic shutdown of most of the world, and the subsequent results of it. The sheer scope of the lockdown was unprecedented in human history, and many are worried that the job market will never recover.

Fortunately, for those who want a dose of positivity, the job market is one thing that the pandemic did not seem to be able to harm on a long-term basis. Post-pandemic, the job market has rallied worldwide, with more jobs than there are workers in most parts of the world.

But what about those who live in the United States? Well, job numbers sometimes vary from month to month. However, overall, the United States is doing better in terms of employment numbers than it was pre-pandemic.^[3]

7 Unauthorized Immigrant Numbers in the USA Are Not Increasing

This one is mainly United States-specific, but it involves other countries and their relationship to the U.S. The media in the United States will constantly report that unauthorized immigration is completely out of control and that people are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border at record numbers.

However, they rarely have any proof for these claims. Still, if there is a slow news week, they can always bring up immigration and talk about people crossing the border to get some attention. However, as we mentioned, it is all about numbers at the end of the day, and the numbers don’t back up the hysteria.

Now, it is true that fentanyl is becoming an increasing problem in the United States and that it has caused a rise in opioid deaths. However, there is no reason to believe this has anything to do with immigration numbers. The reason for this is the number of estimated immigrants who are in the U.S. unlawfully has remained relatively steady at about eleven million for some years now.

Finally, while it is true that fentanyl is a problem and the cartels need to be dealt with, there is no reason to believe that means unauthorized immigrants are bringing an increase in crime. The evidence shows that unauthorized immigrants actually commit felony crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.^[4]

6 Artificial Intelligence Is Not Going to Leave You Unemployed

Today, many are increasingly worried about artificial intelligence and the dangers it may pose in the future. Some are literally worried that AI will gain sentience and take over like a science fiction movie. However, others are more realistic and are just concerned that if we make AI too good, it will replace many of our jobs, hurting the economies of the world.

The Godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, has even blown the whistle on AI, saying that we are developing it too far, too fast, and that it worries him. However, it is important to be clear about what Mr. Hinton is and isn’t afraid of. He is worried we could make it more intelligent than us, and that it could create a world where it is hard to distinguish what is truth. He is also worried that they could become very manipulative and tricky, learning the skill from us.

It is important to understand, though, that Hinton was working on very advanced neural networks that are much more powerful than most job-related AI tools. Those are less of a concern, as experts believe any jobs they remove will just be replaced with better, higher-paying jobs for people instead.^[5]

5 The “Doomsday Glacier” Is Over-Sensationalized by the Media

Most of you have probably seen scary media headlines about something called the Doomsday Glacier. This is a common nickname for something called Thwaites Glacier, a giant block of ice 74,000 square miles (191,659 square kilometers) in surface area that is vital for the health of our environment. The alarmist headlines will claim that this so-called Doomsday Glacier will essentially destroy the entire world if it melts, and scientists are increasingly worried.

The scare stories suggest a rise in sea level of up to ten feet is possible, which certainly sounds very frightening. These over-sensationalized claims have done nothing but frustrate serious scientists who are tired of the ridiculous moniker. While scientists are worried, the loss of the glacier would not necessarily mean an apocalypse, and a lot of the issues from it would happen slowly, not overnight.

The immediate loss of the glacier would cause a rise of about 25 inches 9633.5 cm) in sea level, not ten feet (3 meters). The ten-foot scare is a reference to the fact that the loss of the glacier may cause instability in the West Antarctic ice sheet, whose loss could cause such a rise. For these reasons, the scientists who study the glacier refuse to officially use the term Doomsday Glacier.^[6]

4 Don’t Worry About Inflation, Wages Are Going Up Faster

One of the biggest things that is constantly brought up in the news around the world lately to scare everyone is inflation. While inflation has slowed and stabilized in some sectors, it doesn’t seem to be going back down, and many are worried about paying for basic goods and services. Inflation has given those who want to traffic in fear something very real to scare people with.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is still the bogeyman that many are making it out to be. While inflation can be worrisome especially if it does not stabilize, the biggest short-term problem with inflation is that it can cause serious economic problems where even decently well-to-do citizens have trouble paying for basic goods and services.

This is why it is so important to keep your eyes on the statistics, which show that wages are actually going up faster than inflation in the USA to meet the higher prices. As for Europe, The European Central Bank is expecting a possible 4.6% wage increase, which is significantly higher than the 3% increase they believe would be more consistent with their 2% inflation target.^[7]

3 Crime Rates Are Actually Dropping All over the World

The media loves to show and talk about crime, especially violent crime. If it is a slow news day, they can trawl the entire earth for tragedy, and they can always find something. Since the media does this all the time, it is easy for people to be fooled into thinking that things are really bad and that crime of all kinds is on the rise. Most people have accepted that it is simply true and that higher crime rates are just a by-product of our modern society.

However, the data we have shows that the crime rate in the United States is dropping rapidly. Last year in the United States, violent crime dropped by 8%, and property crime dropped by 6.3%, which is the lowest it has been since 1961. This is on track to follow a post-pandemic trend of an overall drop in crime in the United States of America.

But what about the rest of the world? While there may be some hotspots that have increased in crime rate, the world overall is doing great. The best data we have is from 1991 to 2017, which showed an overall drop in homicide rates globally from 6.4 to 5.3 per 100,000 people.^[8]

2 The Doomsday Clock Is Just Some Scientists’ Opinion

Most of you have heard of the Doomsday Clock and know that it is supposed to be some kind of indicator of nuclear disaster, but what exactly is it? Well, the Doomsday Clock is not any kind of real clock, or even a computer program simulating one. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for nuclear annihilation as decided by a specific group of people.

This group of people is the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which was originally founded by Albert Einstein and former members of the Manhattan Project in 1945 after the United States dropped the bomb on Japan. These atomic scientists are well-versed in nuclear weapons and technology. However, they are not privy to classified information, nor are they State Department experts.

Instead, they make a subjective judgment while missing variables like classified peace talks, which could upend their entire prediction one way or the other. More damningly, they sound more and more sensationalist over the years, as they currently have the world at ninety seconds to midnight. Still, it was a whole seven minutes away during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which posed a real threat.^[9]

1 No Reason to Believe We Are Any Closer to Nuclear War

Speaking of which, are we actually any closer to nuclear annihilation? The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is worried, and the news media keeps saying scary things about the Ukraine War and the potential for nuclear conflict between the United States and Russia. The media has been going on endlessly about how the United States was prepared for the possible use of a tactical nuke by Russia in the Ukrainian war.

This has led hysteria to increase and certainly given the media plenty of fuel for clickbait headlines about a potential apocalypse. However, the government has to be prepared for anything, and the reason for the caution was that Putin did make some comments about the possible use of nuclear weapons. However, it is important to note the context before we put on our hard hats and hide under our desks.

Putin is using the threat as a deterrent because he is worried about the United States putting boots on the ground or their own planes in the air. Fortunately, the war continues to be a proxy war and there is no indication that is going to change. If the war continues to be a proxy war and the United States does not put boots on the ground, there is no reason to think Putin will follow through with his threat.^[10]