Happy New Year! Usually that greeting is an empty convention. Why should anyone be “happy” just because of the arbitrary passage from one year to the next? But this year is indeed different, as 2020 was a year best seen in the rearview mirror (perhaps 2020 hindsight?).
Only the willfully blind — that is to say 74 million Americans, give or take — might see 2020 as a pretty darn good year.
For the rest of us, 2020 was a train wreck of epic proportions. I will refrain from elaborating on the bike wreck that left me with a neck broken in three places, a broken hip, three or four broken ribs, near paralysis (I’m gradually recovering) and months of challenging rehabilitation. If it had to happen, this was the year. I couldn’t go anywhere anyway.
Valley News readers don’t need me to reprise 2020’s gruesome details. A succinct summary will do: Donald Trump’s “acquittal” in a sharply divided Senate trial; a global pandemic that has taken almost 350,000 American lives because, in part, of Trump’s breathtaking malfeasance and incompetence; the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and subsequent nomination and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett; record shattering wildfires and flooding; a global recession; the shameful sight of endless lines at food banks in our wealthy nation; the continuing police brutality and killing of people of color; and much more.
But I prefer to begin the New Year with optimism and gratitude.
The election of Joe Biden was not because he was an exhilarating candidate. It was a repudiation of Trump and Trumpism. It was rejection of white supremacy and authoritarianism.
It was a referendum on indecency.
Decency prevailed.
While the tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others leave an ugly stain on the road ahead, the national uprising was astonishing. An estimated 15-20 million Americans took to the streets. Black Lives Matter moved from the fringes to the legitimate center of political discourse.
Kneeling in nonviolent protest went from marginalization to de rigueur. (Although Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed.)
A woman of color will be our vice president.
The truth of “systemic racism” traveled from dismissal to general acceptance, although solutions remain controversial and elusive. Consider that our incoming president, vice president and many other political and business leaders acknowledge a truth that only a year ago was considered radical.
While I remain slightly cynical about charity, as it too often serves as a woefully inadequate substitute for justice, small acts of kindness in American communities are prolific and touching. Many have noted that the pandemic has torn open our complacency and revealed poverty, injustice and racism so vividly that all but the blind can see.
The tear in our clouds of misery may have a silver lining.
Millions of Americans have learned how short the step can be from comfort to homelessness. The American inclination toward victim-blaming is shifting as millions are suffering from the consequences of economic injustice. I believe it will lead to more compassion for and less disdain of those on the margins.
For many years I have also been cynical about the ubiquitous and reflexive inclination to “Support our Troops.” It is nothing against troops. I was a troop, having served as an Army officer in the Vietnam era. But only 10-11% of “troops” ever serve in a dangerous setting. The remainder are doing a job, perhaps an important one, but the conventional idea that they are withering under enemy fire to keep us “safe” is largely nationalistic fiction.
I don’t write that as gratuitous criticism, so save the hate messages. I note this only as contrast to the long, long overdue acknowledgment of health care workers and teachers, to whom America owes a massive debt of gratitude.
Every health care worker in the path of the pandemic is in exponentially greater danger than the average military service member. The courageous selflessness of nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, maintenance staff, food service staff, orderlies and cleaning staff is remarkable. Every day, in understaffed and underfunded settings, they endure physical and emotional exhaustion, only to get up and do it again the next day … and the next day … and the next day.
America’s teachers have been similarly challenged and responded with similar selflessness. They have been asked to work in medically hazardous situations without proper equipment. They’ve been in classrooms and then out of classrooms, expected to reimagine curricula and master technology. Like most medical professionals, they are under-compensated and overworked, although few have been required to work the inhumane hours in conditions endured by health care workers.
In 2021, we should forevermore be singing praises to these unsung heroes and properly supporting our schools and health care facilities.
Only Pollyanna could see 2020 as a blessing in disguise. Even the most malevolent deity wouldn’t put humankind through the hell of the past year.
But as new growth always arises from ashes, perhaps 2020 has sown seeds that will grow into seedlings of justice and compassion.
Steve Nelson lives in Boulder, Colo., and Sharon. He can be reached at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.