The current year drawing to a close was not, as some believe, the worst year, ever.
Worst year for whom? Privileged, entitled, white, middle-class western-world whiners who are suckers for social media, that’s who.
Who else would go overboard with grief, weeping crocodile tears on hearing news that some rock and roll icons and B-list actors died? People die. Even celebrities die, but that hardly makes this year any worse than another.
Celebrity deaths amount to nothing more than highlight reels played at awards shows. People who are having a really bad year do not have the luxury to moan about it; they are too busy trying to survive. Personal tragedies can make a year awful; they deserve condolences.
The election of Donald Trump was bad, but that alone does not qualify 2016 as annus horribilis. Let’s not forget, Canada elected Stephen Harper three times.
The Syrian war is actually pretty bad, on its way to becoming the worst conflict in the 21st century, with much more death and destruction ahead. However, when it comes to war, conflicts, such as World War I and II, and the Vietnam War, to name a few, eclipse what is happening in the Middle East. Like terrorism, the situation in Syria is terrible, but it will no doubt become worse in 2017.
The worst year depends on a point of view and in this era, there is a distortion through the lens of social media. If everyone in a certain Facebook echo chamber starts bellyaching about 2016 being the worst year ever, then it must be, until next year.
Then, just like clockwork, at the drop of the New Year’s ball in Times Square, comes January 1, and someone will have lost their car keys, thereby making the ensuing 365 days unbearable.
Some criteria needs to be placed on years thought to be the worst. At the top of the list would be Armageddon, not snow-mageddon, but a real apocalyptic extinction event, whatever the cause, such as an asteroid or plague.
What could be worse? Deaths of celebrities, no matter how beloved, do not qualify a year to be categorized as the worst, nor does war, because they happen all the time.
Climate change does not count because it has been going on since the dawn of the industrial revolution.
The collected calamities of 2016 do not qualify it as the worst-ever year in human history, because that is what “ever” infers: always, forever, eternally, until hell freezes over, until the cows come home. It means every year prior and every year to come. By that definition, there are some doozies ahead.
David Brindle is the community reporter for Powell River Peak.
