Africa-Press – Namibia. ADJUSTING TO THE so-called new normal since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic meant swiftly adapting to the way one thinks about and does things.
In reflecting on 2021, I am reminded of a 1966 Western film, called ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’. The classic Western starred three veteran gunslingers of yonder years: Clint Eastwood as the good cowboy, Lee van Cleef as the bad one, and Eli Wallach as the ugly one.
The film was a financial success and launched Clint Eastwood into stardom. Reviewing the highlights and the low points of 2021, let’s start with the ugly: At every turn, and staring us right in the face, is poverty, and an ever-widening chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.
Children are born into poverty, and more and more people live in shacks, with a high number surviving on handouts, while others are scavenging for food at municipal dumpsites. Poverty is right here on our doorstep, and something needs to be done about it. What and how is a rhetorical question.
Finger pointing won’t help. As a collective, we need to find ways and means to arrest a rapidly growing problem, for the consequences of not doing so are too ghastly to contemplate.
In reviewing the bad of 2021, topping the list across Africa, is growing joblessness and sluggish economic growth. This is so difficult to comprehend as Africa is a continent well blessed and abundantly endowed with resources above and below the ground.
Like in 2020, Covid-19 overshadowed everything in 2021. We were bombarded daily with reports in the mainstream media, and on social media platforms. Pundits guiding us on what we should and should not be doing – all rather confusing for us mere mortals. Spare a thought for those in rural areas.
Scientists, epidemiologists, and medical experts told us of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants, and lately the Omicron variant. We are constantly cautioned against hand-shaking and hugging, advised to cough into our elbows, to practise social distancing, and to wear masks – indoors and outdoors.
Vaccinations are the order of the day, and now getting a booster is a must. Lately, I am often thinking of the ‘known knowns’, the ‘unknown knowns’, and the ‘unknown unknowns’.
Way back in 2002 at a media session, the then-United States secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld, in response to a question harped on about the ‘known knowns’, or the things we know we know.
He reminded journalists of the ‘known unknowns’, those things we know we do not know. And he then added the ‘unknown unknowns’, which, according to Rumsfeld, are the things we don’t even know we don’t know.
Pretty much sums it up – for me anyway. As for the good in 2021: Thankfully, there were fewer knee-jerk reactions to management, as seemingly the consequence of outcomes is given more thought by those in leadership and decision-making positions.
As we approach the new year, let’s avoid cynicism by thinking 2022 is merely going to be another 2020. Can there be any doubt that 2021 made us more aware of the importance of looking after our planet, our family, community, and ourselves? And that should be a good enough way for us to end the year.
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