Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay  

Happiness is in short supply at the moment. There is a widespread feeling that the past year was awful, in view of the riots, the Virus, the economic turndown, and the electoral turmoil. Perhaps most irksome to us has been the collective isolation—the loneliness of it all—which has led to a host of negative health consequences:  https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/28/the-extreme-loneliness-of-lockdown-even-though-my-partner-is-here-im-struggling-to-cope  

There are even reports of people dying from the loneliness related to the “lockdowns.” Clearly, previously established relationships have suffered and forming new ones has become harder.  Perhaps one silver lining here is that we are less inclined to view people as disposable. 

Many are of the view that since 2020 was bad, 2021 is bound to be better, as if 2020 was just an unlucky year and the bad luck is bound to run out soon. But is that a reasonable assessment? It’s worth asking how we got to this point: Consider, for example, how things might have turned out if the responses to the year’s challenges had been different. Was it a good strategy to hope that the riots would just go away? Was quarantining both the healthy and the sick the best approach, and did that make the economic situation better or worse? Is there anything about this election cycle that gives one hope that the next will be more uplifting or lead to a better outcome?

We don’t know what will happen in 2021 or what the future holds. At some point there could be another pandemic more dangerous than this one. Might social tensions increase this year, instead of decrease? What if our politics becomes increasingly radicalized? To the extent that 2020 was made difficult by bad choices made by the people and/or those they chose to rule over them, it’s not clear that happy days are just ahead. How we respond to a problem makes all the difference, for better or for worse, and is a reflection of our culture and ultimately our values.