Fortunately I’m not just going to leave you with some reasons for pessimism. Here are the latest reasons for optimism, involving marijuana, patent trolls, government land, state revenues, and oil production:
10. Increasing decriminalization of marijuana. Rhode Island’s state government has passed bills to reduce fines and sentencing for marijuana possession. Also this week, New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo “called for changing the state law” to reduce small amounts of possession from a misdemeanor to a fine. And Colorado will be voting this November to try to legalize the weed and regulate it like alcohol. A similar measure barely failed in California a couple years ago, and the federal government may crack down on some of the successful movements for awhile, but the trend is clear.
The War on Drugs has failed to stop people from smoking marijuana while wasting billions of dollars on inconsistent enforcement that increasingly encroaches on the privacy of innocent people while enabling a dangerous and profitable black market. As time passes and generations shift and governments look for needy tax revenue, I believe the future is inevitable, and we are seeing more evidence of that future all the time.
11. A tipping point in the digital patent wars? Legendary judge Richard Posner threw out an Apple-vs-Google patent trial with some strong words on how ridiculous the patent wars has become. Straying far from their original purpose of protecting creators and creations, patents in the digital world have exploded into absurd copyrighting of abstract things like dropdown menus and emoticons. Entrepreneurs have bemoaned the increase of “patent trolls” suing companies for things on their websites or the ways their phones work (Facebook and Yahoo are currently embroiled in such suing and counter-suing). Hopefully Posner’s timely words will be the start of a new trend, and we won’t see any more rent-seeking patents on things like finger swiping.
12. Selling government property. The federal government has sold or auctioned off a few billion dollars worth of lighthouses, buildings, and other various types of land and property that were mostly “underused, outdated, or abandoned.” It won’t put much of a dent in the overall budget, and it’s a shame it took them this long to get rid of some of it, but, hey, a few billion dollars is a few billion dollars. I’ll celebrate all the progress we get.
13. Increase in Missouri revenues. Here in my home state, “revenues rose more than expected” in May, with the mundane explanation of “higher collections of state income and sales taxes.” In other words, people are working and spending money on things. The federal government released a weak jobs report for the nation last month, but the evidence on the ground at least in Missouri is looking pretty decent.
14. Rise in US oil production. Pushed by the new shale booms in Texas and North Dakota, US oil production is now at its highest level in 14 years, having reversed a couple decades of decline a few years ago and still rising. Meanwhile, US demand for oil continues to fall, reducing both the country’s overall import levels and the chance that we will meet an energy crisis in the future.