I think we have all had our fair share of years where unpleasant events or bad luck never cease to end. Since the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 I cannot remember experiencing a year where events beyond my control affected me so much. Even today I can still vividly remember the feeling of enormous relief when the Soviet vessels turned around mid Atlantic. Ironically enough, apart from two cancelled holidays and some rather irritating social distancing routines, this year could otherwise be seen as no worse than most other years.
What is different though and in many ways similar to 1962 is the feeling of helplessness in the face of events. A disease holding the world to ransom, with the pain and fear shared across the globe and the anonymity, the meaninglessness and the purposelessness of this virus adding to the anxiety. As if to twist the knife in the wound the world’s largest democracy, a country many people have a relation to and often look to as a guarantor of global stability, is caught in a surreal spider’s web of Trumpism. On a lesser scale you would see Brexit as the icing on the cake if you are that way inclined.
All three have already been proven to be destructive yet not one of them is a spent force. On the contrary they each still possess the ability to ruin millions of people´s lives, acting individually or in symbiosis. At present there is a panacea being bandied about by the hopeful. A vaccine, an election and a deal. The frightening thing about the times we live in are that these solutions are not acceptable to all. In fact for different reasons e.g. stupidity or political cynanism, many do not see them as solutions. Stupidity is easier to live with, as putting your hand on a hot stove usually results in better behaviour. Political cynanism is the elephant in the room. Stupidity will of course come round eventually but by then it will be too late.
History is not repeating itself, it´s simply mutating.
Next week on Tuesday the 3rd of November 2020 I am hoping the first ship will be turned around.