With the year coming to a close, I like to look back and reflect on my accomplishments and everything that has happened this past year. But since that is a little personal and it is the end of the decade, I want to write about everything that has happened world wide throughout this decade. The good, the bad, and the dirty. Let's get into it.
One of the biggest things about this decade is the progress in technology that we have made. In 2010, phones changed forever. Smartphones were nothing new but this decade has put limitless amount of information and entertainment at the tip of our fingers. Phones went from being something people used to communicate to so much more, with games and applications and endless information from the web. Don't know something? Google it. In another country? Translate it. It became as easy as that. Many apps that were released this decade have changed how we live our lives. Uber altered how we get around, Airbnb changed where we stay, Netflix reshaped what we watch and when, and Amazon transformed retail in the biggest way possible. With phones came social media, that allowed people to express themselves and women to speak out, such as with the Me Too Movement. This movement allowed women to talk about their sexual assault stories and opened people's eyes about the abuse in Hollywood. Hollywood also recognized the under representation of people of color in award shows such as the Oscars. Furthermore, more female artists, such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift, found themselves on the top charts this decade and the media has also helped artists from around the world to find their fan base, such as K-pop and Latin artists. I mean, Despacito is the most watched video of all time on YouTube. NONE of that would have happened without social media. But, of course, with the good comes the bad. Social media became a place for bullying and harassment. Although people try to monitor those things, it is still a big problem especially for kids who are cyber bullied from people they know at school or even strangers. And many retail stores became victims of modern commerce, such as Toys R Us that went bankrupt and had to close down all their stores nationwide, and thousands of people lost their jobs with no warning. Social media also allowed us to open our eyes about the natural disasters happening, scientists have warned us about global warming for decades but social media and the internet really helped get the research out there. Natural disasters are happening more frequently and are now taken as evidence of climate change. Wildfires are occurring more and more all over the world, from California to the Amazon in Brazil. Coastal communities are on edge as sea levels rise and hurricanes bring in more and more water. Not to the mention, THE POLAR BEARS *insert sad face*. It is still not clear what the nations will do to combat climate change and unfortunately not much has been done this decade. Many countries fell into despair these past few years. Syria collapsed into civil war and untold suffering, hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced in the process. ISIS and other terrorist groups started enlisting willing victims and killing those who disagreed with their ideals. Full grown extremism spread hate and attacks all over the world, killing innocent civilians in France and United Kingdom. Moreover, this was another decade with countless mass killings, from Muslims to American school children. In China, more than 3 million Muslims are being held in concentration camps and are being subjected to a regime of surveillance and old-fashioned torture. Writer's thoughts: Can I just say how crazy it is that basically Holocaust part 2 is happening in China and NO ONE is talking about it? Okay, back to the article. This decade we also saw a big swing in American politics, going from the first African American president who stood for diversity and social justice to a president under whom race relations soured and attitudes towards immigrants hardened (sorry not sorry Trump supporters). In contrast to America, Canada stood as a bastion for moderation and diversity. Syrian refugees were welcomed with open arms and even others who claimed asylum at our borders. Canada also added gender identity in the Human Rights Act, which many transgender people have waited a long time for, and became the first major economy to legalize pot. There were many tragedies that broke our hearts in Canada as well, like the train disaster at Lac Megantic, the nursing home fire in Quebec, and the opioid epidemic that quietly claimed 14,000 Canadian lives in the last four years. This was also a decade to celebrate sports, with over three winter olympics and more women athletes attaining global stature. I don't really keep up with sports so I will just leave this one to the experts. As for human achievements, we begun to edit human genomes in the fight against disease, we've witnessed human courage in the front lines against Ebola, and we saw human spirit in the rescue of a Thai soccer team. This year was also a big win for human curiosity of the universe. We took a look at our first black hole, searched for organic molecules in Saturn's orbit, and even found organic molecules on Mars! We have been close to Pluto and the Voyager Spacecraft left our Solar System. We have seen planets from far away that look similar to our own and the idea of aliens has become more widely accepted. Not to mention, the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle and gravitational waves that help explain physics of cosmos, confirming theories 100 years after Einstein came up with them (talk about a man ahead of his time). Canada's most accomplished astronaut, Chris Hadfield, flew his final mission as did the US space shuttle program. China has gone to the moon, the European sent a spacecraft to land on a comet, and NASA's osiris-rex went to an asteroid and is bringing back samples. And, of course, Elon Musk's private company, SpaceX, is revolutionizing space transportation and doing it with reusable rockets. Who knows what we will learn about the universe in the next 10 years? Just like any decade, this one had it's ups and downs. Like I said above, with the good comes the bad. That is just how life is, but we can hope right? We can hope that we will get better and do better. Well readers, here are my hopes for the decade to come: I hope people will become more inclusive, I hope women continue to thrive and speak up, I hope school shootings stop, I hope someone does something about the Muslims in China, I hope that we can fight climate change, and I hope that we can spread more love than hate. I know, it's a lot to ask but that's why they call it hope, right? Happy New Years and I hope you all have the greatest 2020 ever!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
About my blog:This blog is not a weekly or bi weekly blog, I enjoy writing about things when I actually have something to write about! Throughout the posts you will see many different categories! Such as history, photoshoots, and popular topics. You can keep up with my blog by following my social media pages. Which can easily be found at the bottom of the "Home", "About", "Resume", and "Gallery" page!
Enjoy <3 |