Last year, I asked if 2021 can be any more crazy than 2020. Maybe asking that question is no longer practical, with the pace and strangeness that events are happening. I'd say that the two years are probably comparable in terms of craziness. There is, at least, some glimmer of hope for things to change for the better.
The Covid pandemic that crashed on the world in early 2020 continued into 2021, with a post-holiday peak in January, a steady decline in the Spring, a surge in the Summer and Fall with the "Delta" variant, a temporary lull in early Fall and an even bigger surge at year's end with the "Omicron" variant. Meanwhile, vaccines were rapidly developed, then distributed during the year. This virus, in all its variants, was going to do what it was going to do, no matter who is in the White House or other positions of power. The surges and lulls would vary in timing in different parts of the country and world. Covid has taken a real toll, with many lives, but also many lives affected by the often stringent and sometimes contradictory efforts taken to try to control it. The good news is that while Omicron is more contagious than previous variants, it appears to be less severe in most cases (which tends to be how pandemics tend to behave),leading to hopes that it will rapidly burnout in the population. Future variants may be expected, but if they continue to diminish in severity, Covid may become more of a manageable plague, like other diseases we've long dealt with.
Recent years have also been burdened with a pandemic of emotional melodrama, especially surrounding politics and controversial social/cultural issues. There are still many questions surrounding the last presidential election, the transfer of power, and the January 6th disruptions. Meanwhile, inflation, supply chain problems, Afghanistan, violent crime, and other troubles became the focus of 2021. Mistrust of and disagreement over the credibility of sources of information seems to be an underlying theme of current times. It is encouraging that increasing numbers of people are at least starting to question the media and cultural establishment narratives that drive much of the apparent craziness.
There is one area of great encouragement going into 2022. A combination of bold state legislative efforts and federal judicial appointments have brought us to the verge of the Supreme Court potentially overturning the fictitious "right" to abortion-on-demand that was imposed on the nation in 1973. That will not in itself lead to full protection of the youngest human lives, but it would open a new phase in the struggle for protection of all human life.
