Many thought 2021 would be different. For most, COVID-19 was very much in the rear-view mirror with vaccines rolling out and the possibility of international travel without some form of quarantine dangling in front of us. Unfortunately, variants would stall many plans to reunite with loved ones. Barring the pandemic, a lot of other systemic issues rose to the surface. Ones that would throw into stark relief the lines between the haves and the have nots. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from January, shall we?

With Joe Biden’s victory in the polls, I assume there were plenty in the United States of America were hoping for a peaceful transition of power. For four years, they had lived under the rule of a tyrant. One that only served to fan the flames of dissent rather than try to mend the rifts inherent in a broken society.

Despite his attempts to obfuscate the truth and declare the results invalid, it was not to be. Fuelling the anger of his loyal supporters, he had them storm the US Capitol. Politicians and their aides ran and hid for their lives as rioters tried to stop the counting of the electoral votes.

There were even threats of a civil war brewing in the heart of the once mighty beacon that was the United States of America. To add to the heartbreak, assaults on elderly Asians began to increase as blame was placed squarely on China for the spread of COVID-19. Shootings returned and one, in particular, struck close to home – seeing six Asian women shot dead..

On Wall Street, chaos reigned when hedge fund managers attempted to short GameStop stock (the parent company behind Australia’s Electronic Boutique or EB Games for short and Zing). Instead of their stock numbers tumbling down however, savvy everyday people managed to prop up the ailing brick and mortar company, upending the dominance of white-collar elites.

Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, the pro-democracy faction capitulated. Unable to stand against the might of pro-Beijing and the threat of invasion, many of those that had hoped to keep alive the hope of a ‘two system’ governance were either ousted from office or willingly chose to step down.

A coup in Myanmar upended the long sought after democracy as military leaders took control of the country. Even after several long months, the country remains in turmoil.

On the topic of famed individuals, Prince Philip passed away and there was the very public divorce of Bill and Malinda Gates.

Then, of course, there were the delays caused by the Ever Given getting stuck in the Suez Canal. Many a meme was born, although there were also plenty of gripes as products were delayed.

This was especially difficult for those that desired electronic goods such as new fridges, cars and the latest consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Computer chip shortages meant that it was a test of speed when it came to humans and bots – with many individuals failing to snag a shiny new console to play on.

In April, COVID-19 cases began to surge again in India after a series of celebrations. With it came the emergence of the Delta variant. It soon became the new dominant strain, even managing to sneak into Australia and seeing both Melbourne and Sydney shut down for almost four months.

After enduring a harsh winter storm in February down in the state of Texas, the USA also faced fuel shortages due to a cyber attack. But not even other countries were exempt. Although unrelated to what happened in the US, the UK also saw a brief stint of people clamouring for petrol as the ramifications of Brexit rolled out.

Even if these were minor blips for most people, outrage was never far behind. Women marched in both Australia and the United Kingdom despite COVID-19 still being ever present. Why, you may ask? Equality. In Australia, particularly, there were multiple allegations of sexual assault that were committed in the centre of Government. Australia’s Attorney-General, Christian Porter, was also named as the alleged perpetrator.

In May, hostilities escalated into open conflict with Gaza and Israel. In Jerusalem, both Palestinians and Jews contested the rights to the city.

Not to be outdone, the latter half of 2021 saw the Haitian president assassinated; the jailing of a previous South African Prime Minister; devastating floods in Germany and Belgium, as well as in the Henan province of China; the Taliban retaking Afghanistan; shallow graves of Indigenous Canadians in many churches that purported to look after them; an earthquake very close to Melbourne; coup in Sudan; conflict and tension in Ethiopia; protests in the Solomon Islands; and Lebanon’s continued national crisis after the explosion back in August 2020. 

That was not to say it was all bad news. The Tokyo Olympics went ahead in July and I, for one, was delighted to hear the video game music that was used during the opening ceremony. Hearing pieces from Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, the Tales of series and much, much more made me extremely excited and my mum was quite startled to see me jumping up and down in front of the television exclaiming at each piece I recognised.

In Australia, we saw the reopening of my home state of New South Wales. Unfortunately, it also came with the stepping down of one Gladys Berejiklian due to her possible involvement with Daryl Maguire. Dominic Perrottet stepped up to the plate and after a few false starts with the rise of the Omicron variant, reinstated masks and check-ins. 

As for the matter of GOP26, many found it less than groundbreaking. Promises were made. But none deviated much in the current targets when it came to climate change and global warming.

From a personal level, life has remained much the same as it has been. 2021 barely differed from 2020 and even though it’s nearly the end of another year, I still find myself thinking that it was the year before. So many things have happened and yet it also feels like nothing has happened. Trapped at home, there has been little variations between the days.

2022 is fast approaching and yet I can’t help but feel that it too will be marred by a pandemic of stupidity that helped see a deadly virus spread across the entire world. Still, only time will tell. Let’s hope for smarter decision-making and a focus on long-term goals rather than selfish and individualistic short-term gains.