Photo and Article By Patrick Robinson
The year 2020 is best summed up in one word. Loss.
This year—and I honestly regret reminding you that it’s not over—has been unlike any other in memory or in history.
In 2020, we’ve lost 4.7 million acres of forest due to wildfires, which are continuing.
In 2020, we lost a lot of sea ice north of the Arctic Circle. As of Sept. 1, the Arctic sea ice expanse stood at 1.64 million square miles. If that sounds like a lot, it’s the second lowest expanse for that date since satellite-aided record-keeping began in 1979. By 2035, the current prediction is no ice at all at the top of our world! That’s just 15 years from now. The effect will be catastrophic on ocean salinity, the Gulf Stream, coastal water levels and much more.
In 2020, we’ve lost nearly 200,000 lives, due to COVID-19. I’m aware of all the counter arguments, like co-morbidity, the idea of herd immunity (which means we would need 60% of the population to be infected, which is four times the current level, and also would mean four times the deaths (800,000), so just please shut up about that). By year’s end, we will have seen well over 200,000 people die—so many of whom could have lived.
In 2020, As of July 24, 72,800 restaurants closed due to the pandemic and its economic effects. Current predictions are for as many any 160,000 to close before the end of the year.
In 2020, we lost a year of athletic participation at multiple levels, from youth soccer to college football. This year is gone and can’t be recovered.
In 2020, we lost faith in our ability as a nation to respond together to a national crisis. The amount of, type of and level of division in this nation is extremely damaging. In past national crises, we have put aside partisan politics to stand as one. This time, our pre-existing divisions have kept us from looking out for the common good, cast doubt on proven science and perpetuated the pandemic, even as we strive to find solutions.
In 2020, we lost our way regarding the use of force by police. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others by aggressive, angry, over-zealous, poorly trained and ill-equipped police officers has led to a long-overdue national reckoning. We can’t go forward like this any longer. Conversely, we can’t just slap numbers on slash-and-burn solutions, like defunding police. We clearly need law enforcement. But we need better training, better (and less lethal) equipment, better leadership (especially at the tactical level) and better approaches to policing. This must—and will—change.
In 2020, we (or many of us) lost our intolerance of dishonesty. While it’s true to some extent that politics is a game of shading the truth, hearing outright lies told over and over again has to be held to some kind of accounting. Lies promoted on social media and by various persuasions in conventional media have to be exposed and laid bare, too. The bias across the political spectrum—from MSNBC to FOX News—is not making us stronger, because their reports are highly curated versions of the truth. There must be a better, less angled more centrist kind of truth-telling that is meticulously fact checked and presented. Extremism on either side only leads to more discontent and division.
In 2020, we lost an incredible number of live music, theater, dance and other performance arts. If you think that doesn’t matter much, you’d be wrong. Not only are the arts a huge part of what makes life enjoyable, but they propel an ocean of commerce in the form of ticket and merchandise sales and funding that keeps those artists alive. The effects of this loss have been devastating for many performers and artists.
And what have we gained?
A respect for how contagious viruses can be.
A love for our homes and what they represent.
An appreciation for frontline essential workers.
An understanding that remote work is still work and can keep us all going.
A clear vision that voting really does matter.
A recognition that some things we might have enjoyed (like movie theaters) are really not that necessary.
What do you think we’ve lost and/or gained in 2020?
Patrick Robinson is part of the Robinson Newspapers family, which owns www.westsideseattle.com. You can see his photography at www.patrickrobinson.net.
Thanks for your post Patrick.
I think we’ve gained a creative class that is more aware of their responsibility to speak out on the issues as you have just done. When I was a manager of creative businesses and before that an active creative myself I would never have commented or taken a stand on the issues of the day. I did protest the Vietnam War but I was still safely in school at the time. Once I entered the workforce I kept my opinions to myself for fear of losing my job or later losing clients. And that stance was true of my community as well. Today I see creatives actively protesting in very public ways. I think that is a huge change. Thanks for your contribution!
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