Think 2020 Has Been a Brutal Year?

It has been a LOT worse.

The past months have been a mind-numbing onslaught of complaints, whining, and general bitching about how horrible 2020 has been. It would appear to an outsider to our little speck of rock that this was the rock bottom our society has devolved to.

Is this year as bad as the narrative the media has bombarded us with? The answer is a firm ‘no’ and to illustrate this I’ve found a few notable points in history that make 2020 look like a church picnic.

536 — The Dark Ages

It was literally dark. For 18 months large parts of Europe the Middle East, and some areas of Asia were shrouded in a fog that blotted out the sun. This was caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland spewing ash into the atmosphere covering much of the northern hemisphere.

“the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year.” — Procopius

This caused the expected famine and the coldest decade in the previous two millennia, but this was just the start of what would be several brutal decades in human history.

1914-1918 and 1939-1945 World War I and II

These years resulted in approximately 40 million dead in World War I and 75 million deaths during World War II. Each of these conflicts saw unspeakable horrors, mass bombing, starvation, destruction, and genocide. Anyone alive during any of these years would trade you places without a thought.

One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.

— Agatha Christie

1348 — The Black Death

A pandemic of Bubonic Plague hit England, killing so many people that historians can't agree on what the true death toll was. It seems that the number of dead could have been around 60% of the country’s population.

Many a lovely lady and their lover-knights Swooned and died in sorrow of Death’s blows. . . . For God is deaf nowadays, and will not hear us, And for our guilt he grinds good men to dust. — William Langland, Piers Plowman

Diseases like the Bubonic Plague really put diseases such as COVID-19 into sharp focus, and we should consider ourselves fortunate that medical science has progressed since the 1300s.

1848 — Year of Revolution

Civil unrest gripped over fifty nations in Europe resulting in massive protests that blazed across the continent. Increased literacy and the introduction of the telegraph meant that governments found that they were unable to suppress the news that would stoke the fires of revolution.

Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom

— Alexis de Tocqueville

The end result was possibly tens of thousands of dead and continent-wide revolution that is largely considered to be a failure. We have seen our fair share of protests and riots in the past few months but they are minuscule compared to the fires of revolution.

1520 — Smallpox Comes to the Americas

Indigenous peoples of the Americas lacked the immunity that Europeans had developed to pathogens such as smallpox or influenza, and in the year 1520 smallpox unwittingly made landfall in Veracruz Mexico. It is estimated that Smallpox is responsible for 90–95% of the deaths of indigenous persons in the Americas for the next two centuries.

Future nations will know by history only that the loathsome smallpox has existed and by you has been extirpated.”

— Thomas Jefferson, 1806

Our 2020 pandemic has less than 5 percent mortality rate and the majority of our populations are in the low-risk groups. Compare that with entire villages and cultures being wiped clean off the landscape and receiving barely a mention in history classes.

1492 — Columbus

This one depends on who’s lens we view this year from but from the perspective of the native populations that inhabited North and South America Columbus discovering that these lands existed was the dawn of a horrifying new age. It was a new age of disease, warfare, and terrifying new technologies.

As soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first island which I found, I took some of the natives by force, in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts

— Christopher Columbus

Opening up new lands and resources is always a double-edged sword, but in this particular case, the door was opened to centuries of bloodshed and conquest.

1162 — Genghis Khan is Born

This particular year may not have been all that bad but it harbored the start of life for a man who is thought to be responsible for the deaths of 40 million people. His bloodthirsty campaigns snuffed out so much life that he was able to affect the Carbon Dioxide levels of the planet.

I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you. ― Genghis Khan

These days the common belief is that the most powerful man in the world is the president of the United States. Say what you will about President Trump, I’d still rather see him in the oval instead of President Khan.

2020 May Not Be Good, But…

Thus far in 2020, we have seen COVID-19 completely upend our way of life, the economy riding a bit of a rollercoaster, a multitude of natural disasters, and the death of George Floyd igniting protests and riots not only in the United States but across the globe.

2020 sucks, but history tells me that this time period is probably still the best time to be alive, in fact, I couldn’t think of another time period that I’d rather be in.

Except maybe 2019.