“I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me. ”It’s a lyric by Mountain Goats songwriter John Darnielle. Once again, another year went by that didn’t kill us.
Times were tough in 2018. The economy is on the brink of another recession. A scourge of mass shootings occurred, including one in Parkland, FL, that killed 17 people. Many of us protested against gun violence and advocated for gun safety in the aftermath of that shooting. We marched for women’s rights. The Trump administration continued to spew out lies. The past year dished up a litany of bad news.
Our president showed sympathy for authoritarian regimes, including continued support of a government that believes drug addicts should be killed. He also falsely accused journalists of creating “fake news.”
There was the destruction of environmental regulations, such as pulling out of the Paris Agreement, a treaty signed by 196 countries that promotes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. And there was an overall milieu of corruption, epitomized by the downfall of political and legal figures such as Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Michael Cohen. Not to mention the immigrant catastrophe and the debate over the not-so-great wall. On top of that, the American government has been shut down, with no signs of reopening.
Then there were the deaths. Patriot hero of the Senate John McCain passed away. Former first lady Barbara Bush died and her husband, a great Republican president, George H.W. Bush aka #41, died soon after.
It was a year in which there were many high-profile suicides. There was the terrible loss of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, both of who were at the top of their game and apparently struggled with mental illness.
In the pop-culture world, we lost Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries, a notable ‘90s rock star who happened to have bipolar disorder. The year also took Margot Kidder, the actress who had bipolar and famously played Lois Lane to Christopher Reeves’ Superman in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in a series of films. Plus, our beloved Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin died back in August. And in the realm of punk rock, Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks passed last month.
However, it might not seem like it, but there was some good news to report in 2018, conveniently outlined in this massive list posted by Quartz. Some of the highlights:
It was revealed this year that global suicide rates have dropped by 38 percent since 1994. That boils down to four million lives saved.
Crime in major American cities was down in 2018.
There are now more than four million electric cars on the road worldwide.
The United Nations has said the hole in the ozone layer will heal by the 2030s in the northern hemisphere and by 2060 for the rest of the world.
HIV infections are down globally, falling 16 percent since 2010. And South Africa, the country with the highest number of people living with HIV, saw a 44-percent decline in new infections since 2012.
So as we look forward to the future, let’s accentuate the positive things in life. Luckily, with each new year, we get to start over. It’ll be pretty tough to top the negative vibes that promulgated 2018. But let’s resolve to make 2019 superior. “So this is the new year.” Have a happy one.
I’m kind of disappointed that this article is written in a republican view mind you could have just stayed your fax without having to say someone was greater somebody wasn’t greater the wall was good too much political opinions in your article just FYImel