This has been a very difficult year. But it has not been all darkness. Robin Sears writes:
For all the pain of this year, let’s also celebrate the solidarity that most of us showed. Conflict sells newspapers, so the tiny number of jerks — anti-vaxxers, covidiots, and gun-wielding conspiracy paranoids — got far more attention than they deserved. Despite their threats, there very few violent clashes. Overwhelmingly, people reached out to help those in need. There is hope in that.
The horrific police killings in the United States produced change as well as tragedy. Cities are banning chokeholds, excessive use of force, and trying to reassert civilian control over what have become heavily armed hostile forces in too many communities. Those smartphone videos first shocked the world, and then lit the fuse that led millions to take to the streets and demand real change on racism.
In the midst of our basest instincts, large numbers of people chose a more noble path. Health care workers, public servants, and volunteers rose to the challenge. And we were forced to confront the deep-seated inequalities in our society:
The virus has revealed growing inequality and social injustice more starkly than we have seen since the Depression era. For the first time there is broad and serious discussion about two previously unthinkable policy steps: guaranteeing a decent basic income for every citizen, and taxing the accumulated wealth of the rich. They may not happen soon, but the genie is out of the bottle and will not easily be forced back down. Like the demand for pensions a century ago, or broad public health care two generations ago, these ideas will become irresistible over time.
This is not to say that we have triumphed. We are far, far from any victory -- particularly as we enter the Christmas season:
Now we go into one of the most emotionally difficult holiday seasons of our lives. Mourning the ones we have lost, fearful about who might be next, lonely for the embrace of distant family and friends. Some will view any holiday cheer as unseemly in the face of so many in pain. The opposite is true. There is no better time to show determination and even laughter at our surviving this awful year. And celebrating the promised changes in race relations, policing and public health the pandemic brought.
Traditionally, Christmas is a time when we look forward to a better world. The pandemic has shown us why we desperately need a better world.
