Many people are writing about 2020, and it’s less than positive aspects, but I am challenging people to look at some highlights. I am sure historians, scholars of economics, scientists, and theologians will be pondering this year for a long time.
Historians will calculate how our democracy was threatened, hopefully, from a comfortably stable democratic position. They will discuss the events that took place after the November election. Many GOP representatives signed a petition to disenfranchise voters from several key states. The senator who questioned the Electoral College results’ authenticity. Trump’s many lawsuits dragged through the courts, including the Supreme Court, to try to stay in power. There will be more by the day of Biden’s inauguration.
Scholars of economics will discuss how the economy was affected by the pandemic. How Trump’s emphasis on the stock market helped or hurt the economy during the Co-Vid pandemic. The relief the stimulus checks provided for the unemployed.
For many years, scientists will be trying to provide relief from the many strands and changes in the virus. They discovered already it was not human-made but came from bats. But how did it infect humans? Maybe I haven’t read that article yet.
Theologians may ponder if this is a message. Less strict societies are less religious. People are less apt to follow the word of God or read the Bible.
My career as an educator and author became less personal. I taught online for the first time. Late paper excuses and disgruntled students who didn’t like a grade stayed the same, though. I troubled to learn about the students of colleagues who were not joining classes online. I couldn’t go to writing conferences, but I found a wonderful group of writers from whom I learned so much.
Many of my neighbors made improvements to their homes. Being forced to work from home, they perhaps had time to notice what needed to be done. The only issue came when they needed workers to go inside their houses.