Hindsight is 2020
Top illustration by Tim Forkes
There was a time when “20/20” was ABC’s version of “60 Minutes.” Hugh Downs, Barbara Walters, John Stossel, and Geraldo Rivera brought viewers what amounted to a WalMart version of investigative journalism that reminded folks like me just how impressive the work at rival CBS was. Occasionally, 20/20 ran a piece that impressed viewers, but all too often we were left with pointless fluff that was rarely talked about the next day.
Then came the actual year, 2020. One, no matter how hard we try, we will never forget and is bound to be discussed, studied, and etched in history books forever. Only time will tell whether we learn anything of value and advanced as a culture or if this year marks the actual first stage of failure of a great experiment which began 244 years ago.
While hindsight might well be 20/20, it does not guarantee we learn from our mistakes and challenges. If it did, history would never repeat itself. In fact, history might even be the most valued subject in school. Instead, like much of everything else this year, the teaching of history came under assault.
Imagine, parents, armed with chrome books, laptops, cell phones, and Wi-Fi being forced into having to oversee their kids homeschooling. If that was not enough, just think of how difficult it was for families to remain stuck at home and having to stress over what streaming service to check out while binge watching movies, television shows, and concerts. Come mealtime, the stress of selecting between a restaurant, fast food joint, or grocery store prepared meal delivered to the front door must have been overwhelming. Those people who lived through the Great Depression were lucky to have so little in life.
When the economy went in the tank and millions of Americans were suddenly out of work while a pandemic spread across the country, our challenged leaders chose to bail out corporate America. It makes sense, since as far back as ancient 2008, history showed how effective this is. Why put people to work by creating jobs to upgrade our infrastructure so when this mess ends, we can emerge leaders to the free world? It did not help in the 1930s so why would it work today? Why ensure millions of unemployed Americans are taken care of when there are billionaires to feed? Anyone who has studied history knows without a wealthy elite controlling our economy, government, and propaganda, citizens become restless and that leads to trouble.
Finger pointing, and a lot of it, was a big part of this year. It sure helped to solve our problems just as it did for Germans when they blamed jews for all their problems between world wars. There were also a lot of heads stuck in the sand refusing to believe the news because it was just too painful to accept, especially when their elected leaders and churches told them so. The institutions of government were under assault by crazy liberals who wanted to overthrow them so what better way than to defeat the enemy than to dismantle our government checks and balances and award sole power to a man who just wants to make us great again? It worked so well for the south in the 1860s, it was bound to work just as well this year.
And now that this year is concluding, we have a refusal to concede defeat from a beaten leader because we have all seen the nonsense that breaks out during calm transitions. No, this is a time for loyalty oaths, promises of disruption, and even secession because democracy thrives on chaos, confusion, hate, and divide. It’s why great systems like Apartheid, communism, and fascism were successful. The more we are held down, the happier we all are. It’s why people in Norway thrive. Their government fails to take care of them and constantly singles out one group after another for their many problems. If happiness is what you seek, then dammit, Biden must be stopped.
I don’t know about you, but I have had enough of this BS, Biden Shenanigans. I am putting my foot down on the throat of the next liberal I see. I am flying the stars and bars because it is the only patriotic thing left to do to show my tree hugging idiot neighbors what fools they are. This land is my land, and I don’t care what any Supreme Court has to say on the matter. It’s mine, all mine and I will be damned if I have to share with anyone else, much less hand it over to a bunch of asshats who will undo the greatness of not just this year, but the last four years. I just wish I was going to live long enough for history to prove me right again.
Jim is a life long resident of California and retired school teacher with 30 years in public education. Jim earned his BA in History from CSU Chico in 1981 and his MA in Education from Azusa Pacific University in 1994. He is also the author of Teaching The Teacher: Lessons Learned From Teaching. Jim considers himself an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any political party, group, or individual who looks to profit off of hypocrisy. When he is not pointing out the conflicting words and actions of our leaders, the NFL commissioner, or humans in general, he can be found riding his bike for hours on end while pondering his next article. Jim recently moved to Camarillo, CA after being convinced to join the witness protection program.