EDITORIAL: As we reach the midpoint of the 2020s, COVID-19 has defined the decade
When you look back on recent American history, you can see how one event reverberated through – and in some ways defined – a whole decade.
In the 2000s, 9/11 set the tone and established the most urgent issues for that time all the way through the financial collapse of 2008-09 – which arguably set the table for the 2010s.
Going back further, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the demolition of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Cold War cleared the way for the relative placidity and the belief we had reached “the end of history” in the 1990s, and, on the flip side, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 helped raise the temperature of the turbulent 1960s to a boiling point.
On Wednesday, we will embark on 2025, and it will be the precise midpoint of the 2020s. It’s anyone’s guess what will unfold over the next five years, but for the moment we can say without too much fear of contradiction that the signal event of the 2020s has been COVID-19.
When news reports about a virus that seemingly arose from a Chinese wet market started circulating in the early weeks of 2020, it seemed like something distant or, if it did come to these shores, something that could be contained. Once the lockdowns actually commenced in March 2020, it was easy to imagine it was an inconvenience that would last maybe a month or two, and life would then easily return to its normal rhythms. Little could anyone have imagined it would last for a couple of years, kill millions of people around the world, and cause grave sickness for many, many more.
Even though the masks in public places are mostly gone and no one gives much of a thought to whether numbers are up or down, COVID-19 is still out there – people are still getting it and people are still ending up in the hospital because of it. As always, getting the latest vaccine is the best way to avoid having a severe case.
But COVID-19 continues to reverberate through our culture and our politics. The defeat of incumbent leaders and parties in most industrialized nations over the last couple of years has been due to discontent the virus ignited, from the lockdowns that were instituted, to learning loss among students and the inflation that ensued once people could get out of their houses and spend money. A lot of us may be done with COVID-19, but it’s not quite done with us yet.
And consider the changes it has brought to how we earn a living – working remotely is an option now in a way it was not before the pandemic, which has had an effect on everything from necktie sales to downtown business districts.
We can’t entirely shake off recent history, of course, but a new year does offer an opportunity for a new slate. It’s when we all hope we can, at last, shave off those few extra pounds, get the attic or the basement cleared out like we’ve long been threatening to do, save a little more money, tackle challenges and daily frustrations with more equanimity, and a million and one ways we hope to improve ourselves and make life a little better overall.
So, let’s hope that 2025 is happy and healthy for everyone. We can also hope that the second half of the 2020s will be much more tranquil than the first half.