So. That was a terrible year. On more than one occasion I’ve tried to organize my thoughts and feelings as the world kept getting worse around us, but every time I thought I had enough of a handle on things where I could speak, the year upended everything, until the best I could do was to greet each day with “What fresh hell are we in now?”
I mean, where do I begin to discuss this damned year? Do I start with the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has killed over 1.8 million people as of this writing, or the race protests in the States and here in Canada? Do I talk about our Prime Minster, who, while well-meaning, apparently needs to be reminded on a regular basis on the concept of “ethics”, or do I talk about my provincial Premier, who’s only response to the challenges of our province seems to be to cut, Cut, CUT everything from the government until only a skeleton remains? Perhaps I should talk about Trump, the only U.S. President in living memory to be both the Most Evil President and the Most Incompetent President at the same time? Or about how so many people decided that they didn’t care enough about their fellow humans not to wear a piece of cloth over their faces and to stay HOME to keep from spreading COVID-19, and so contributed to that 1.8 million death figure?
I repeat: this was a terrible year.
It wasn’t all bad. We now have two vaccines against COVID, and they’re being distributed as of this month. America did vote Trump out, though with a smaller margin than a just society should have allowed (to the 74 million who voted for Trump, may I ask WHY?? The man and the party that enabled him was stripping your country down for parts and attacking the rights you take for granted! What does it take for you to see that?). For the first time in nearly a year, we can think about repairing the damage to our civilization, and maybe, just maybe, start building something better.
At least, that’s what I hope. And I hope that this is a hope we all share – and are willing to take action on.
Happy New Year.