We are finally out of the “aughts,” and the “teens” and are pressing forward into the roaring ‘20s. The year 2020 is shaping up to be a crazy year. Not only does 2020 add an extra day at the end of February, but it also as the audacity to put January 1st on a Wednesday, smack-dab in the middle of the week. Nobody wants to start anything, especially a year on a Wednesday. The lunacy of 2020 doesn’t end with its fixed date structure, but the events taking place in 2020 sure don’t offer any reassurances. The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo, Japan, even though it refuses to ban the Rising Sun Flag. A flag that was symbol of imperial Japan, flown by Japanese army units as they not only fought our American soldiers but, also invaded and committed war crimes against so many innocent Koreans and Chinese citizens in WW2. Finally, to top it all off, we are gearing up for one controversial presidential election, which is sure to divide our nation even further. It sure seems like 2020 is a year circling the drain.
Then again, the outlook on January 1st, 1920 looked equally bleak. It too was a leap year that started on a Wednesday. The 1920 Olympics in Belgium, likewise, had the shadow of a World War hanging heavy above it. Germany, Hungary, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire were all banned from taking part in the Olympics because they were part of the Central Powers in WW1. Finally, the cherry on top was the 1920 presidential election. It was a nasty event that divided a nation still trying to put itself back together. Warren G. Harding campaigned on a “Return to Normalcy” saying that America needed to set back the clock to a time before Wilson was president.
2020 to some people may seem like it will be a no-good rotten very bad year. Much like 1920 seemed. However, 1920 wasn’t that bad of a year. Things got better, bit by bit. In 1920 the divides in the world started to smooth over. The 1920s were known as the roaring twenties for a reason. It was a prosperous time. 1920 was not a year of circling the drain, but a year of crawling back out of it. 2020 may not look so bright and shiny to you right now, but it has all the makings of a good year. The years we should hold some concern for are like 1929… the ones that start too good to be true.
Peace, Ben