2020, a year of reminders.

I have finals this upcoming week. My final final for my junior year of high school. After my final final, I will proceed to enjoy the last summer before my last year of high school. Time has passed quickly and so many pages of history have been rewritten for this year. My condolences are with the class of 2020, who have worked so hard throughout these past four years but have had a virtual graduation rather than one in person. 

But it would be tone-deaf to merely write about the academic world. Someone on the news last night from South Boston said that "2020 hasn't been too great for anyone." And I totally agree with that statement. It doesn't matter whether one is a student, an adult, or an elderly: our lives have been fundamentally altered. With 1 in 4 American workers out of a job, not only are recreational activities uprooted. Some people are struggling to put food on the table. Some want to go to work but cannot. Some can't go to work because schools aren't open. 

A deluge of problems seems to be arising in this country, COVID-19 and the protests over the murder of George Floyd this past week are two of the most substantial. I don't like to be political publicly, but the start of 2020 hasn't been looking too great for the United States on both an economic and social front. The protests over the murder of George Floyd have grown very violent over the past couple of nights. The administration hasn't helped in putting out the fires, with the president actually threatening to use violence against rioters. Stores have been looted and people continue to gather in the evenings in various major cities like New York, Minneapolis, LA, etc. throughout the country to protest. I'm wary of these protests, as they've even made their way into Boston. 

I don't know where I stand on this issue. Last night, the Minnesota governor activated the National Guard to quell the protests and keep people safe, something that has never been done before. I see why people are angry and why they have a right to keep protesting. One conscious person in this country cannot deny that history seems to keep relentlessly repeating itself and this country, no matter how hard it tries and no matter how many people die under police brutality, can't seem to shed itself of its racist past. The murder of George Floyd seems to have shaken this nation differently and people are violently mobilizing in ways we haven't seen in a long time in this country's history. These are the types of riots that will make the history books. They're the type of riots from which real change can emerge. 

Yet I am a pacifist. I don't enjoy seeing violence. People have been injured in these riots and people's lives are put at risk during these loots. Furthermore, the destruction that arises from these loots and riots is very great. For some people, the store they own on the corner lot is all they've got. Their family relies on this store to be open and it relies on this store to feed the family. But the protests have caused stores to unnecessarily close (yes, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic) and have resulted in sustained damages. Police stations have been burned and civic establishments, which have taken generations to establish, are now being burned to rubble. Is this really productive? The economic implications and dangers of these protests are beyond measurable. 

 

NASA and SpaceX also launched the first commercial spacecraft to the International Space Station, a feat that had yet to be accomplished. I watched the launch yesterday afternoon and it filled me with some satisfaction in our country's technological advancements and the changing landscapes of space exploration. 

This is really not how I could have imagined ending my junior year of high school. We've got a global pandemic, quarantine, riots, and a new rocket built partially by a private company at the International Space Station. Someone on Instagram made a post that said something to the effect of, I feel bad for the people learning 2020 history; it's a pretty hefty chapter. Perhaps it's not something to feel bad about. I think these events are part of the cycle of human experiences. They are a reminder that we are still human. It's a reminder that we are not invincible, as there are still diseases that we can't cure. It's a reminder that when people are angry and when the system we established to rule isn't being equitable, people will riot and express this anger. It's a reminder that if we put all of our brains together and unite our knowledge, we really can send people into space. 2020, a year of reminders.

Happy summer (whatever that means) :)