The first thing that comes to
mind as we greet a new year is may 2021 be a far site better than 2020.
My thoughts of 2020 will
include a world ravaged and terrorized by a pandemic and in the United States a
government that was feckless at times. The year also brings back memories
of many selfish people who would rather not wear a mask than help protect their
fellow man.
The inconsistencies of
governments also struck me as bizarre when dealing with the COVID-19 virus which
did not discriminate by imaginary lines drawn on the ground. One county
in the state where I live would have all local restaurants and bars closed for
safety, while you could go to the other side of the street and restaurants and
bars would be wide open. Many "leaders" of our state and local
governments showed their true colors when failing to protect the general
public.
But, the COVID virus wasn't the
only issue we heard about repeatedly in 2020. The presidential election
in the United States was bizarre at times. Former Vice President Joe Biden unseated incumbent Donald Trump fairly easily. But, the post election
drama was strange as Trump and his legal teams proceeded to claim the election
had been stolen from them. No court where litigation was filed ever sided
with the Trump campaign but that didn't stop it from trying to have the
public's decision overturned repeatedly.
Racism is still alive and well in the United States as evidenced by the death
of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis murdered in late May at the hands of white police officers. For
several weeks protesters and rioters across the United States used it as an excuse to riot and loot in
minority neighborhoods. Not too far from where I live, it was described as a war zone with
gunfire, fires being set deliberately and helicopters flying over the
combatants. It is something that I as a white American am not proud.
I hope 2021 is a whole lot better than 2020, but in reality unless a vaccine is rolled out quickly to everyone in the world I don't think the year will be much different than last year. I pray this changes.
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