2022 is another variant of hope
Given that 2021 started with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and is ending with the surge of yet another coronavirus variant, it’s easy to forget all the good that happened this year. The past year also renewed our faith that good things can come at what seems like the worst of times. So as another pandemic year nears its end, we’ve decided once again to focus our last issue of this year on some of the most promising developments of 2021 — and things to be hopeful about in 2022 and beyond.
2021 was the year of accountability, as observers and consumers looked to cultural institutions, corporations and individuals to make good on their promises. The same was true for many professional athletes, actors, musicians and many more high profile ‘stakes’ many people used to draw ‘the line’ in their talents and the way they have been used or abused. We watched Olympian gymnasts, including Simone Biles, recount the sexual abuse by Larry Nassir in front of congress. Star athletes such as Simone, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, USA Gymnasts sent the message of ‘no more’.
Lessons in compassion. Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka helped this understanding grow by speaking out during the Olympics about their own psychological struggles — the gymnastics star and tennis phenom both stepping back from competition, choosing what they knew was best for them rather than buckling to the demands of a society that too often views top-tier athletes as objects for public consumption rather than human beings. We’re crossing our fingers we’ve learned a lesson about treating each other and ourselves with compassion.
Young people became committed to helping break the stigma around mental health.
They championed this change in part by helping develop a series of mental health resources – from GIFs and stickers to blogs and social media cards – to spark conversations with friends and family.
Nearly nine billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, and almost 200 countries signed an agreement pledging to act on climate change. We fully vaccinated half the human race in a year.
Corporate America has slowly become more diverse and is getting more so: Nearly 50 percent of all new members of S&P 500 companies’ boards were from historically underrepresented groups, according to the executive search firm Spencer Stuart, up from 22 percent the year before.
Innovations. All the time we have had apart has taught us things we’ll hang on to, even after that dreamed-of day sometime in the future when we can all discard our masks. The need to find a vaccine, fast, spurred scientists to impressive advances in coding diseases. The rest of us learned how to take advantage of the digital age: innovations abounded in telemedicine and remote work, and we began to commune as never before with faraway friends and family. We can keep that up in sickness and in health.
Americans are starting new businesses at the fastest pace in years. The pandemic helped end a multi decade slump in new start-ups that had both stumped and worried economists. This year, business applications in the U.S. are on track to surpass 5.4 million, up from 4.3 million last year. Why? Perhaps the pandemic gave people more time to think, and because the economic upheaval it wrought created opportunities for small new businesses. Technology has also made it easier to become an entrepreneur, and access to capital has expanded.
A more diverse White House. The new White House filled its ranks with an unprecedentedly diverse group of public servants. This year saw the country’s first female vice president — as well as its first Black and South Asian one — in Kamala D. Harris, along with its first female treasury secretary in Janet L. Yellen and its first Native American Cabinet secretary in Deb Haaland at the Interior Department.
The few brave Republicans. The Republican Party mostly bought into — or at least indulged — the “big lie” of a stolen election, in a dispiriting betrayal of democracy. Still, a principled few of them refused to fall in line. Conservatives such as Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Liz Cheney (Wyo.) deserve praise for speaking out against the GOP’s corrupt new orthodoxy — even when it cost them politically, which in Ms. Cheney’s case included being stripped of her leadership position in the House Republican Conference.
Worker empowerment. Speaking of jobs, 2021 saw a record number of Americans quitting them. That might sound like bad news, but maybe not. Workers took advantage of the fact that there were far more job openings than people looking for work — empowered at last to take a stand for better pay and better labor conditions. And pay did rise substantially this year, especially for the lowest-paid laborers. This year alone can’t compensate for decades of meager growth in worker pay, but the improvement is encouraging.
Black Lives Matter saw some major wins in the U.S. The man who murdered George Floyd and happened to be wearing a police uniform at the time is now behind bars for 22 years and is about to plead guilty in the federal civil rights version of the case. The Georgia men who killed Ahmaud Arbery for the crime of going out for a jog are also incarcerated, awaiting sentencing, thanks to tenacious activists demanding their arrest. This kind of justice should be the norm, of course. When it didn’t seem to be forthcoming in the Kyle Rittenhouse case, we got a good look at how broken the system can still be. Luckily, progressive District Attorneys in cities and counties across America — the ones who can really do something to change that system — are fighting to end cash bail and no-knock warrants, mass incarceration, and mandatory sentencing minimums. DAs in LA and San Francisco are moving so fast, they’re facing recall efforts led in part by police unions.
Pigs still can’t fly — but maybe they will help us fly more safely. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is using 20 pigs for a pilot project that aims to reduce the number of birds striking planes. It is letting pigs roam on a plot between two runways, where they are meant to eat the leftover crops that often attracts geese. No joke, it is happening.
Thanks for reading, happy new year! See you in 2022.
