2021

Happy New Year regular readers. We all lived through 2020 and know all of the trouble, strife, insecurity, upset, destruction, death, and grief it brought. And while we all hope for the best from 2021, I want to say that just because the calendar changed to a different number, it doesn't mean that the current events and situations magically disappear. The events and situations of 2020 were not simply down to bad luck or just a bad year. This last year of 2020 was filled with the culmination and direct result of many years, often decades, sometimes centuries, of greed, inequality, inattention, disinterest, disbelief, denial, cruelty, and in many cases deliberate callousness and malice. We cannot pretend that 2020 was a one-off -- it was a time when the chickens came home to roost, and they are here for 2021 as well.

I only hope that we as a species can learn from 2020 and work on the issues that continue to face us: not only the global pandemic and all the resulting tragic fallout (loss of life and livelihood), but all the other issues of racial justice and inequality, financial inequality, a rising tide of conservative right-wing Fascism and the infection of the public sphere by extremely bizarre and grotesque conspiracy theories, and the most important issue of all, the coming planetary destruction from climate catastrophe. Our planet and its inhabitants are going to suffer tremendously and all we can do is try to mitigate the damage that has already been done and is on the way--there will be more and worsening fires, floods, storms, hurricanes, slides, droughts, and land erosion. The next 10 to 20 years are going to bring changes and suffering on a global scale. Let's hope 2020 was not a dress rehearsal and that we can move forward with truth, belief in science and education and journalism, kindness, compassion, bravery, honesty, integrity, and love. We are going to need it if we are to face these issues and form a better future than the grim one we are facing.