5 Things for Americans To Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving

It was a tumultuous year in politics, but there's all kinds of silver linings if you look hard enough.

Photo by Megan Watson on Unsplash

2024 was a crazy year for political news. President Joe Biden decided to bow out of the presidential race at the last minute after being exposed on national television as badly in decline. Donald Trump dodged criminal indictments like Neo in The Matrix and once again came from behind and defeated the Democratic presidential nominee.

Amidst all this political chaos, it’s easy to feel confused or even overwhelmed about the state of the country. But I think there’s some real wins we’re seeing as a country that it can be easy to forget. It’s important we remember the good things in life; gratitude makes your life easier.

Here’s five things to consider as you sit down with your loved ones and enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner this year:

1. An orderly election: After all the twists and turns, we were blessed with an election that came and went without the chaos of 2020 or other elections where the outcomes were disputed. Americans voted, and we knew the winner of the presidential election within 24 hours. (California is still counting votes for some reason, but if that state ever learns to run an efficient election, it will be a outright miracle.)

2. Declining crime in most places across the country: The summer of 2020 brought with it a massive spike in shootings and homicides, bringing terror and trauma to far too many communities. As police departments saw declining morale, staffing shortages, and a reduction in proactive policing, crime appeared to be out of control in many parts of the country. But in the past couple years, things have started to turn around. Major crimes like homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery have declined in dozens of large cities over the past year, sending the nation’s crime rates towards the levels they were at in 2019.

3. Decreasing racial polarization in our politics: President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise performance with minority voters — from the Arab Americans in Michigan to the Latino and African American residents of the Bronx — was a signal that American politics is continuing to racially depolarize. That means that we may very well avoid a dystopian future where one major party is there to basically represent white folks and the other one is there to represent non-white folks. This means both parties have to increasingly compete for the votes of everyone which will hopefully reduce the presence of zero-sum, polarized thinking in our politics.

4. Real victories for animals welfare: The viral case of Peanut the Squirrel highlighted just how many Americans increasingly care about the welfare of the animals we share the planet with. We had a number of high-profile animal welfare victories this year, from a record high percentage of eggs being produced in cage-free environments to the state of Massachusetts banning the use of animals like elephant and big cats in traveling exhibitions and shows.

5. Renewable energy continues to boom: Whatever you think about the politically charged issue of climate change, few people would argue that it’s a bad thing for us to embrace forms of energy that are less destructive to the earth. Clean energy investments hit a record high in the third quarter of this year. It’s not just blue states leading the charge, either. The leader in renewable energy? Texas. If you include nuclear, the Lone Star State now produces around 40% of its total energy without fossil fuels.

What are you thankful for this year? Sound off in the comments below. And Happy Thanksgiving!