Don't believe the doomsayers; 2021 will be better
The term "If it bleeds, it leads" first appeared in 1989 in New York Magazine in an article critical of what made it onto local TV news. The full quote by journalist Eric Pooley went: "The thoughtful report is buried because sensational stories must launch the broadcast: If it bleeds, it leads."
Doom and gloom has a pervasive attractiveness to it; tell me you didn't doomscroll much of 2020 away. Perhaps attractive isn't the correct word. It's a compulsion, one that has been with us long before television was invented, and that we now see prevalent on social media.
Gossip is a foundation of our species’ very survival: a critical component of social cooperation going back to troglodyte times, aiding early humans in avoiding predators, finding food, and attracting mates. It created alliances and hierarchies; it’s a bonding force. We like to call modern times the information age, but it has always been such. Our attraction to information regarding the scandalous, the murderous, to what is despicable and destructive has often been beneficial to one’s thriving and surviving.
The grisly murder across the country is less important than the one across town which is less important than the one a few blocks away. But with the growth of social media our neighborhoods and tribes have grown so that we’re often more curious about what is happening in a far larger neighborhood.
Through it all, that which is horrible remains compelling, because to understand the horror is to potentially avoid it: a survival strategy. Except not so much anymore. That doomscrolling usually isn’t that helpful; it’s not informing you of immediate dangers to your well-being, but rather general worldwide fuckery, much of which has no impact on your life and never will. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be informed, but it can lead to a toxic habit of buying into the bleeding that continues to lead the news. Even in memes and social media comments.
I remember when 2016 was coming to a close and many said, “Thank God that fucking hellscape of a year is over.” My reaction was “You think that was bad? All we had to put up with was a lot of shitty election annoyance. In 2017 Trump will actually take power and it is going to get much worse. 2016 is going to seem like a vacation.”
And it did get worse. Every year got worse, because he was still in power, still committing his endless evil fuckery.
Now I see the comments and the memes about how people who believe it will finally get better in 2021 are scorned as foolish, unduly optimistic. People are jaded and don’t dare to hope. I knew, and proclaimed, back in June that Biden would win by a large margin, but so many refused to dream it could be true because they were too beaten down. The doom and gloom isn’t just coming from the news, but everyone with a voice. They will continue to feed the bleed into your eyeballs and earholes about the perils of 2021 because that’s how we’re made. Optimism and good news don’t attract attention the way a good train wreck of tanker cars carrying nuclear waste does.
But I am optimistic.
It was obvious after 2016 it would go from bad to worse, just as it is obvious that this coming year will eventually be better. Not wonderful, but some of the hemorrhaging will stop. Trump will be gone and many of his utterly useless fucknuckle toadies along with him. And as I wrote in an earlier piece, he won’t be making a comeback. Covid will continue to rampage, but at least capable leadership will be in place to help mitigate it, and vaccines are continuing to roll out and prove effective.
I’m in Alberta and our leader is like a mini-Trump, and he’s not going anywhere for at least a couple of years, so personally I should be paying more attention to that. But on a global scale we’re going to see some improvements. Things will continue to suck for a lot of people as they always have, but anyone who tells you 2021 won’t be better, or that it might even be worse, isn’t basing those assertions on reality. There is every reason to believe we’ve turned a corner where the suck will become less, the bleeding staunched, the hazmat team on the scene.
Not for everyone, but for many, things will improve. We can breathe a brief sigh, then get back to fighting the corruption and hatred that was there all along, but for four years was allowed to rule unabated. The last four years revealed to even the most unaware just how bigoted many members of society are. That is a war that must and will continue. For now, take solace that an important battle has been won.
Relish in the victory, and thirst for more.