Whenever we talk to the older generation, they always have some years etched into their memories. Whether it be the year of some war they witnessed or of a bad flood, there are events and timestamps people don’t forget. The year when the twenty-first century finally left its teenage years was expected to be like any normal year, apart from the ‘20/20 vision’ jokes. Little did we know that this would be a year where almost every month would be a different headline. To give you some perspective on the sheer volume of events that took place, the Armenia-Azerbaijan war didn’t even reach the news feed of most readers. From protests to riots, wildfires to cyclones, UFOs to Venus, election to impeachment, this year had it all. Oh, and there might have been a pandemic.
Now, the purpose of this article is not to list down all the bad things that happened in the year. Every year has its own share of unfortunate events. But, this was a year which has certainly made its place into the stories which we would tell our future generations.
‘Unprecedented times’, I’m sure you must have heard this phrase multiple times. And the times were exactly ‘Unprecedented’. For the office-going people, this meant switching their office desk to their bed. For the small business owners, this meant pulling down the shutters on their properties and hoping their savings last. For the daily wage earners, this meant hunger and poverty.
Another famous line of the pandemic is, ‘We’re all in this together’. No, we are not in this together. Some people are taking vacations on their private jets while others are still struggling to make ends meet. The stock market is leaping out of bounds while the economy is crashing. Some people are protesting against wearing masks while doctors have their faces scarred by masks. It should come as no surprise to anybody that the pandemic has affected different sections of society differently and while some have already begun to forget it, others will carry its scars for the rest of their lives.
We’ve lost 2.3 million people so far due to the covid-19 pandemic and this is just the number of reported deaths. This figure is after most of the world imposed strict lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. So did we prevent a huge number of deaths or were the lockdowns and other measures ineffective? We don’t need to look far to get an answer. Vietnam is one of the very few countries which were able to beat the pandemic despite not being very technologically advanced. Others like Australia and New Zealand have also been able to put a leash on the pandemic. These countries stand testimonial to the fact that this pandemic could have been less severe with proper planning and public response.
One other aspect of the year which I find to be as jarring as the virus itself was the increased divide among people around the world. While covid increased the disparity among the rich and the poor, certain events also point that the fault lines between certain sections of the society are being widened. The protests in the US shook the world but let’s not forget the Delhi and Bangalore riots which many of us have forgotten.
One major positive of the year was the advancement in biotechnology. Vaccine development is not a trivial process and generally takes multiple years. To build a highly effective vaccine in less than a year and also begin vaccinating people is a feat which many would’ve thought impossible. This is also the first time mRNA vaccines have been approved which is a major technological breakthrough. Apart from the vaccines, there were many positives that didn’t get the limelight they deserved. Africa was declared polio-free after four years without a case. SpaceX became the first private company to send astronauts to orbit and to the ISS. The Korean “artificial sun”, a superconducting fusion device, burned at over 100 million degrees for a record 20 seconds. Tesla became the world’s most valuable car company signaling a clear shift towards electric vehicles. And above all, it was a time when many of us reunited with our families.
Now, the year has ended but does it mean that all the problems we associated with 2020 have also magically ended? No, the pandemic still looms and many millions of people are still unemployed. The most important learning from this year is that we humans are not the center of the universe as many of us might think. A microscopic virus has brought the entire humanity to its knees. And this is certainly not the last pandemic.
Image Credit: Engin Akyurtand Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash
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