Good News for Humankind 🌏

The world’s latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more
December 7 – 15 2024 C.E.

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​‘Disappeared’ Syrian dissidents emerge from Assad’s prisons after regime collapse​

As Syrian rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured city after city on the road to Damascus, forcing Bashar al-Assad to flee the country, they also opened the doors of the regime’s notorious prisons, into which upwards of 100,000 people disappeared during nearly 14 years of civil war. Many emerged frail and emaciated into the bright December sunlight, greeted by weeping family members who had no idea they were still alive.

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​Namibia elects Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its first female president​

Nandi-Ndaitwah was a member of the underground independence movement in Namibia in the 1970s. She was promoted from foreign minister to vice president in February after President Hage Geingob died while in office. She was widely viewed as a steady hand, a seasoned diplomat not tainted by the corruption scandals that had engulfed some other members of the ruling Swapo party.

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​77% of universities have now pledged to divest from fossil fuels​

115 U.K. universities have now pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, following Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Bradford all incorporating fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies. The divested universities represent 77% of the U.K. Higher Education sector and more than $22 billion USD worth of endowments.

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​Japanese court rules marriage equality ban unconstitutional​

The Fukuoka High Court of Japan has become the third of Japan’s eight high courts to rule that the government’s policy against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. High Court Judge Takeshi Okada ruled that civil laws forbidding same-sex marriages violate the nation’s constitution, saying, “There is no longer any reason to not legally recognize marriage between same-sex couples.” However, he noted that any change in national marriage laws must be decided by Japan’s legislature, known as the National Diet.

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​Denmark to plant one billion trees and return 15% of its land to nature​

On farms in Denmark that grow crops like hay for animal feed, the government will soon pay farmers to turn some of their land into forests instead. In other areas, farm fields will revert to peatlands. In total, around 10% of the country will be restored to nature. The plan goes farther than any other country has so far to tackle emissions from the food chain, which is responsible for around a quarter of the world’s total carbon footprint.

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​Norway begins overhauling prison system from punitive to rehabilitative justice model (1968 C.E.)​

By 1968, Norwegians had become dissatisfied with the harsh living conditions of the correctional system, and the Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform (KROM) was formed. KROM’s first substantive change to Norwegian penology occurred in 1970, with the abolition of forced labor. In 1975, juvenile delinquency centers were abolished. Reforms in the early 1990s focused on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.

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​The global prison population drops below 1 million (2069 C.E.)​

As of 2024, over 11 million people globally lived in prisons, often in miserable conditions, frequently exposed to violence and sexual abuse, and without meaningful attempts to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society. However, after decades of concerted effort to address the circumstances that push people into crime and to radically transform the prison toward a truly rehabilitative model, the global prison population begins dropping precipitously, finally reaching the milestone of less than one million prisoners globally.

These milestones have been added to the ​Archive of Human Genius​ , our database of social change milestones past, present, and future.

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This week’s calendar

​GET S*** DONE Work Group​ every weekday at 10:30am-12pm PT (online)

​Bellingham Men’s Circle​ on Monday, December 16 from 6-8pm PT (in-person)

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Need to get s*** done?

Hi beautiful people,

Over the last several months, a small crew of us have begun convening every Monday for the GET S*** DONE: Work Group. The idea is simple: We each introduce ourselves, talk about what we want to get done in the next 90 minutes, and identify what might get in our way. We then mute ourselves and get to work on whatever we’ve been procrastinating on or resisting in some way – maybe a work project, maybe a creative endeavor, or maybe cleaning out the garage. At the end of 90 minutes, we each briefly share what we accomplished. That’s it!

It may sound almost ridiculously simple, but we’ve found that this is an incredibly helpful productivity hack. Having a set time offers structure. Having people there adds a sense of accountability, camaraderie, and fun.

In fact, it’s been so helpful that I’m now expanding this program to every weekday from 10:30am-12pm. There is no expectation that folks come every day. People come whenever it serves and works with their flow.

If this sounds interesting, I’d love to have you join us sometime! Just drop me a line by responding to this email and let me know.

Love,
Peter