Here we are a week into 2021 and Covid-19 is still around and Trump's fascist supporters have stormed into the Capitol Building in protest of a legitimate election.
Great start so far, huh?
Many seemed to think that at the chime at midnight, things would magically get better. Obviously they haven't and we are in for another tumultuous year. But I am, as the title of this post says, cautiously optimistic about the future. With the dumpster fire of a president Trump out of the White House, Joe Biden will have his hands full working to get America back on track. I believe he won't fully succeed, as I think no one fully can and that things have gone too far. But I also feel that America won't return to it's full pre-Trump status because him and Covid have shown us the darker parts of American society and it isn't pretty.
There is a lot wrong with America, and it wasn't until these last four years that we didn't know how much was wrong. We've been shown how corrupt our elected officials can become, we have seen how little self-accountability and responsibility many Americans have. In a global catastrophe that should have brought fellow citizens together, we were torn apart. Americans would literally rather kill each other than be inconvenienced or had their so-called "freedoms" tampered with. Most Americans seem to think the liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution meant they had the freedom to do whatever they want. That is absolutely not true.
But I've already ranted and raved about my thoughts on 2020. If you want to hear them, check out my article "Wild In the Streets" in the anthology The Phantom Games. I feel without the narcissist Trump egging on his supports and feeding them outright lies and propaganda, things will begin to calm down. With a new president and hopefully people having a new respect and focus on listening to science, things will get better. Several Covid vaccines are making their way across the world, and while not completely dispelling all fears of the deadly virus, perhaps calming those fears a little. Our post-Trump/post-Covid world isn't a return to normal, but the darkness can't last forever.
As always, thank you for reading.
