As we face the end of a tumultuous decade, let us not be downtrodden but prepare for the most spectacular event certainly yet to come, if history tells us anything. The 21st century teen years were not unlike living with a surly adolescent: pushing toward unfettered independence while desperately seeking guidance and assurance of parental love; staying out beyond curfew, mouthing off and breaking other rules to push boundaries and discover if any punishment still stings or breaks the will; learning to drive as anxious backseat parents pray silently for their safe return and instant maturity of their teen-age offspring; breaking away from believing everything ever taught by any adult while developing their own cynical if not radical views on complex issues like politics and religion. Well, parental old guard, we made it through with sanity intact, some of us even spotting a few rays of light that will transform rebellious youth into admirable friends, someday.
In this decade the world reached consummate concern for the future of life on planet Earth with the Paris climate accord, and Americans reincarnated the Women’s Rights movement. With more mass shootings than any previous decade (a mass shooting every single day in America), future legislation in this final decade year or the following year will undoubtedly address the issue soberly than ever before and do something that will significantly halt our national recurring horror especially among our children at school. As soon as Trump swarmed in as president, tens of millions of Americans and others around the world protested in the streets not only making known their distrust of Trumpian politics and the man himself but maintaining the election and outcome were dubious and possibly corrupt. A return to civility and common decency among politicians will likely prevent another national election of the biggest-and-baddest ever again.
Number 9
But 2019 holds promise for mankind as a review of past final decade years have shown:
1909—The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) founded by mostly white Americans appalled by routine lynching of black Americans;
1919—The League of Nations formed, later to be reconstituted as the United Nations, to prevent future world wars and political and economic catastrophes;
1929—The stock market crash, though ushering in the Great Depression, would lead to a New Deal president with innovative and far-reaching public projects putting Americans back to work as well as setting controls on the banking industry while federally insuring depositors;
1939—World War II officially begins along with the ultra secretive Manhattan Project that would eventually ensure world dominance of the United States at the cost of our vigilance to prevent a future nuclear war;
1949—Communism takes brutal control in China while ironically novelist George Orwell publishes his foreboding political satire Nineteen Eighty Four, which depicts the real story of life within a country of thought control, word removal, surveillance cameras, and on-cue weeping by devotees of Big Brother;
1959—The Twilight Zone begins airing nationwide, each black-and-white episode probing the human imagination with godly or godless wonder but mostly bringing to life the deepest darkest fears of America’s post-war generation not to mention the little Baby Boomers watching each week beside their parents;
1969—THE most important moment in human history, televised by computer technology, the world witnessing three brave American astronauts landing then walking on the moon, an incredulous feat boosting American pride despite hostility and division while leaving most feeling insignificant when viewing Earth from outer space;
1979—Middle East politics, culture and religion force themselves permanently into the everyday psyche of a previously oblivious free-wheeling, car-loving, get-up-and-go American society;
1989—The fall of the Berlin Wall meant Western culture and capitalism ‘beat’ the propped-up utopia promised but never realized for decades among citizens forced to live behind the Iron Curtain of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics;
1999—The Columbine High School shooting massacre, along with a Fort Worth church shooting at a teen service, indicated a horrific rift in American mentality when it comes to guns, gun rights, constitutional liberty, violent imagery portrayed in video games and movies, and mental illness—all of which to this day remain unresolved and incomprehensible yet politically strengthened, divisive and socially ruinous as ever an issue faced by Americans;
2009—The first African-American elected President of the United States, Barack Obama remained calm, cool and collected in every crisis and political battle, often resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court as Congress refused to practice diplomacy during his two terms in office.
21st century teens
Highlights of this decade could be: Obamacare; Russia playing Americans via social media; Curiosity Rover on Mars; Lance Armstrong; Bill Cosby; Ebola; ISIS; Black Lives Matter; same-sex marriage; the Trump presidential campaign and election; Hillary Clinton, first woman to run by a major party for U.S. president; Brexit, indicating all’s not well in globalism; Me Too; NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem; removal of Confederate statues; Unite the Right rally chant “Jews will not replace us”; and the deadly opioid crisis.
ISIS terrorist attacks continued worldwide and at home, from the office of a French satirical publication to the Boston Marathon; from a Paris football stadium, restaurants and rock concert to a San Bernardino Christmas party and an Orlando nightclub.
But a review of the past nine years in America shows increased deadly mass shootings that left hundreds dead and many more wounded, physically and emotionally:
2011: at a political rally;
2012: at a movie theater and then at an elementary school;
2015: at an African-American church;
2016: at a nightclub in Orlando;
2017: at a Baptist church and then at a country show in Las Vegas.
What will be the memorable history of 2018? Probably more mass shootings like the one at a Florida high school. But that time youth found the wherewithal to create a movement of their own, one for the nation really, those of us sick and tired of legislators sitting on their butts and unwilling to do something to prevent mass shooting murder sprees. The first Never Again rally brought marches in every state as well as sympathizing nations. One march was in New York City where none other than Paul McCartney was spotted marching with the crowd. Asked why he was participating, his answer was simple as he explained he, too, has been impacted by gun violence, recalling a dear friend shot to death.
Yet school shooting massacres didn’t stop as somehow we were surprised with the same story from the small Texas town of Santa Fe. Mass shootings continued nationwide with reporters killed inside the newsroom of The Capital in Maryland, youth at a gamer tournament, Jews at a synagogue, and young adults at a California bar.
If there is an optimistic capper for the Teen decade of the 21st century, 2019 would produce meaningful gun legislation and election security to ensure the sanctity of our democratic process. As for the nation’s citizens, a return to public civility in tongue, tone, tweet and email would go a long way in restoring American trust in our fellow Americans regardless of political beliefs and affiliations. We can vote for whomever we want. Remember?
Along the same lines, Americans say they don’t know who to trust when it comes to the news, referring to online and cable TV products. For that matter, Americans aren’t that concerned when journalists are shot in newsrooms or hacked to death by order of a national leader, one who does not support free speech or a free press. A 21st century American president who refers to the media as the ‘enemy of the people’ along with national apathy toward journalism and journalists is the most incredible and detrimental development to come out of the 20teens, in my opinion. As adolescents are prone to think they know everything already, perhaps the forthcoming decade will bring maturity and the serious mindful responsible actions of a grown-up.