A new year is here and I’m hopeful. Or at least, I’d like to be hopeful. 2020 has been just all around awful. It was supposed to be a new start for me. First year of living on my own and first year of university. I had so many hopes and then a global pandemic happened, disrupting all of our lives and bringing out the stupid in the people we thought were intelligent.
And I know that we will continue to experience the consequences of the events of 2020 for some time afterward but I hope that the drama will at least calm down somewhat. There have been so many awful things happening that most of us haven’t had enough time to even notice all of them, let alone begin to process any of it.
And I hope that the pandemic will soon be over and that we can start the process of healing. We all need therapy at this point but at least we’re alive. Not everyone survived the year and I’d like to pay my respects to those people. And if you are someone who has lost a loved one recently, I hope you are well (or as well as you can be). I know that there is still a lot more grief to be felt and I’m sorry. No one deserves to go through the pain you have and I hope that you are surrounded by people who can support you.
For anyone reading this post, I know that a lot of us feel a little relieved at this point due to the end of the Cursed year but please remember that the pain won’t miraculously disappear just because 2020 is over. Take care of yourself. Reach out to loved ones and go to therapy. There’s no shame in needing help and we all deserve to heal.
2020 Taught Us That The World Is Selfish
If there’s one thing a global pandemic revealed, it’s the fact that people are selfish. That the governments of some countries are at best incompetent and at worst, intentionally negligent. A lot of our politicians and leaders have let us down. They have shown us that they do not care about the people they represent. There are politicians who would rather the death of countless people than to change their stance. There are those who actually profited from the death of countless people. Who even used this tragedy in order to support their platform.
So it’s time that we cleansed our governments. 2020 has shown us that we cannot afford to have leaders who do not care about their people. We need to stop worrying about which side of the equation someone is on and start worrying about whether or not our leaders possess compassion and common sense. We also need to stop tolerating entitlement from our neighbours. People who believe that their freedoms are more important than protecting lives and preventing deaths.
2020 should not have cost us this many lives. There are people, who are dead now, who would’ve been alive if we weren’t living in a world full of selfishness and entitlement. Personal freedoms come second to protecting lives. If you want to risk our lives so that you can continue living life without any disruptions, you can go live outside of society.
The whole point of society, of community, is to pool our resources together so that we may do things as a collective that we never could’ve done as individuals. Just look at roads and infrastructure, hospitals, research facilities, schools, universities and any place that requires more than one person to be run. We can do great things if we work together. If we stop being selfish and entitled.
If, during 2020, you ignored advice from health professionals: wearing a mask, social distancing etc. If you turned, wanting people to be safe, into a political debate. If you continued to harass essential workers when they were just doing their job. If you sneezed on someone or broke quarantine after finding out you had Covid, you are a terrible human being. There are people who would have lived if you hadn’t been a selfish piece of shit.
I hope you’re happy because we’ve seen your true nature and we won’t forget. You will be shunned and looked down upon. I hope you feel guilty. By denying the severity of the pandemic, by believing in conspiracy theorists, you chose comfort over human life and you should’ve been ejected from society for being so selfish.
2020 Taught Us That There Is Good Among Us
For all the selfishness that took place, we also had incredibly selfless people. I would like to applaud all of our essential workers. You all need a raise and thank you for all that you did. Your work made this pandemic more bearable. Remember your worth and don’t allow selfish people to disrespect you.
To the politicians and leaders who did the right thing. Who listened to medical professionals and took the time to plan for the worst, thank you for your service. You’re one of the reasons why we didn’t lose more lives. While none of us like quarantine, social distancing and the restrictions brought on by Covid19, we like that you prioritized public safety over popularity. I hope that more politicians like you stay in power and that we can continue to create a society that genuinely cares about the safety and wellbeing of its people.
To those of you who followed the guidelines and cared more about human life than your individual comforts, thank you. You have proven yourself and I am happy to know you. Please be safe. We need more people like you. And don’t hesitate to cut out the selfish idiots from your life. If they get Covid in the middle of being entitled and stupid, it’s on them, not on you. Do not expose yourself to their stupidity. And most of all, be safe. This nightmare is almost over but it isn’t fully over yet. Do not let your guard down.
Final Thoughts
2020 was a dumpster fire of a year. Many of us were isolated for much of it. On top of the isolation, we had to come to terms with just how broken much of our society is. We had to come to terms with the fact that there is so much work to be done before we can create a society in which everyone can feel safe. We also lost many people.
2020 was a reality check. It was a warning for us to change before things could get any worse. We cannot forget the lessons we learned. We must take those lessons into 2021 and use them to create a better world. A world in which our leadership cares about the people. A world in which everyone can feel safe and where even the poorest among us has access to food and water, shelter, medical attention, education and representation.
I have only one goal for 2021. And that is to help create a better world. Will it be hard? Of course. Will it be done in one year? Probably not. But doing something out of compassion is better than doing nothing out of apathy.
Thank you for reading. I hope 2021 treats you well.
