Some Good News, for Once, From 2023

Writing a newspaper column necessarily is a dour exercise most of the time. The point is to highlight things going wrong that ought to be fixed. Occasionally, however, it’s worth noting some things that are going right that one hopes can continue. Here, in the midst of a season that calls for reflection and gratitude, is my list:

• The world’s population keeps getting larger. We’re on track to welcome our 8,100,000,000th global neighbor in 2024, after population growth of around 70 million this year.