2022

A year in which crises have worsened, for the most part. The COVID-19 pandemic has alleviated with most of the restrictions finally going away, and some sense of pre-2020 "normalcy" has returned. However, other factors make it feel like we continue to drag ourselves through a perpetual state of crisis after crisis, and this feeling has not alleviated much since March 2020. Inflation has upended our lives more than ever, and gas prices were insane especially around June. More and more people struggled to afford basic needs. Political tensions in the U.S. continued to simmer and it felt like we are sleepwalking towards a civil war. R.I.P. to Roe v. Wade, this year access to abortion has ended in many states. Many in Gen Z (my generation) felt it was more important to vote than ever this year due to all the crises, and most voted blue. Russia invaded Ukraine and we were scared that it would evolve into WW3 due to Putin's nuclear threats. Ukraine has been devastated but at least it didn't evolve much beyond the two countries, even if others like the U.S. have taken sides without direct military involvement. It was also a year in which loads of famous deaths occurred, ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to Coolio, Olivia Newton-John, etc. Elizabeth II was a huge one as she was the only UK monarch most of us have ever known due to her insanely long reign, and now we have King Charles III to replace her. Lastly, this year we have reached 8 billion of us, as overpopulation fears grow.