Opinion: A historical perspective
How do you suppose the eyes of history will view the year 2020? Last century, this decade was known as the “Roaring Twenties.” Turning to our friend Google I tried to ascertain who came up with the term the “Roaring 20s.” It states F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby coined the term the “Jazz Age,” which seems to be considered synonymous with that time period.
The 1920s was a period of prosperity following World War I, ironically known as the War to End All Wars.
A great failed social experiment known as prohibition ran from 1920 to 1933. During these years the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution made the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol against the law. Finding that morality could not be legislated the law was repealed in 1933.
I can’t seem to find when the decade starting being referred to as roaring. Did it happen in the teen years in anticipation of better times on the horizon? Was it mid-decade? It seems the kind of moniker that might be applied by historians in retrospect.
So how are our 2020s going to be encapsulated? Halfway through the first year of the 20s, does anyone else feel it should be nicknamed “the year of the squeaky wheel?”
Think about it. A status quo that has existed for years and years is suddenly turned on its ear by the action and desires of a few. Since we are supposed to be a nation of laws, with one person, one vote, when did that change to the loudest voice in the crowd willing to bully its way into the spotlight will be rewarded with whatever it wants? If the loudest voice in the place doesn’t obtain the desired results, its next step is violence, prolonged violence.
The acts begin covertly, and they quickly spread as a mob mentality seizes the hordes of people. This makes it more difficult to hold anyone accountable, when so many are guilty of the offenses, while the others need to defend themselves.
None of the vandals who have defaced and destroyed national monuments ever had the permission of the American public for these actions. Law enforcement has been rendered impotent by politicians and administrators, many of which have never worn the uniform or protected the population in any meaningful way.
Few counties are fortunate enough to have a former Sheriff like Jay Varney to assume the role of chief executive officer and really know what protecting the population entails.
Police departments are accused of using excessive force to the point where they have been left with the ability to exercise hardly any force at all. Defunding the police is an idea that will surely lead to more carnage and wreckage, with no one to stand between civilians and the criminals who would prey on them.
Even in the face of extreme violence, officers are expected, in a split second, to determine how much of a response is necessary and to use only the amount of force required to get the job done. They do this knowing every Monday-morning quarterback will be second-guessing every move he or she makes.
It is better to survive every encounter so they can return home at the end of their shifts.
We are led to believe that in past eras, identifying the enemy was as easy as white hats good guy, black hats not. Today, even admitting that system was ever even considered will get one branded a racist.
Anyone entertaining the idea that their lot in life would immediately improve drastically, if they were just in a different demographic is sorely mistaken. People’s lives improve only when they put in the work to make themselves successful. Sitting around on the couch complaining there are no jobs out there just doesn’t work and it never has worked.
We live in scary times and need to come together to rebuild our shattered trust in the government and each other.
Have a safe weekend.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
