Can you expect the unexpected?
By Matthew Fraser, Opinions Editor
Here we are, inching closer and closer to the end of the year, and what a year it has been. Canceled Olympics, global lockdowns, global protests, a hotly contested election, and an ungodly number of celebrity deaths. This year came in and showed us all who the boss is. But what will the next year bring? Will the asteroid of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (which took place in the year 2021) be around the corner?
Though asteroids are hopefully off the table, the Trump legal team has done its best to close off this year with shenanigans and improbabilities more suiting a Mr. Bean rerun than a presidential send off. The Rudy Giuliani arc included high notes like an appearance in Borat, an impromptu press conference outside of a landscaping office (not to be confused with the actual Four Seasons), rivulets of hair dye running down his face, and I think a possibly inebriated witness rambling her way through a deposition. The former New York mayor has turned the daily news into an early SNL sketch. However, this may lay the groundwork for the next stop on the Trump train; could 2021 be the year when likely-soon-to-be-former president Trump starts his rumored Fox News competitor? With talent like Kayleigh McEnany and Sidney Powell, ready to wrangle cameras and dazzle audiences, Donald Trump may be able to return to his TV roots with more power than ever.
Despite those funny bits, the continuing paroxysms of the American empire might still cause pains for those in the country. With the eviction moratorium ending December 31 and no second stimulus cheques on the way, there may be horror and homelessness on the horizon for some. Though Joe Biden has promised to be the great uniter, this is a problem that he must address immediately or risk there not being much of a country to unite come summer.
Here in Canada, vaccine worries, and distribution could be a whole problem in and of itself. With arrival dates currently unconfirmed and the regular paranoias of ineffectiveness and side effects running rampant, actually delivering a vaccine to the people could be a larger problem than anticipated. In fact, a recent CBC news article outlines efforts and plans to track the distribution and results of the vaccine campaign in a manner never done before. All this however will be happening against the backdrop of continued outbreaks and increasing levels of social uneasiness. Whether enough of the public waits their turn to get vaccinated may depend in no small part on how well people have adjusted to the continued state of fear versus how badly the virus has ravaged the country.
But there is hope for a rescheduled Olympic game to look forward to. If 2021 can bring anything to the fore it will be another crack at athletic glory to help shift gazes from the feelings of desolation that have grown and expanded over the year. At this point, any mention of the games would be welcome.
If 2020
showed us but one thing, it’s that prediction is impossible, and that
adaptation is the way of survival. The motto from game show Big Brother
is the new way of life: “Expect the unexpected.”
Pull: This may lay the
groundwork for the next stop on the Trump train; could 2021 be the year when
likely-soon-to-be-former president Trump starts his rumored Fox News
competitor?
