There is always darkness, yet light still persists. The shadows are proof of that for they cannot exist without it. Light is lit by faith, which leads to hope. Hope yields strength. This is what gets us through everything – good, bad, and indifferent. Even when pitch black seemingly consumes us, faith still lights the way.
The way of the world is confuses me. I have watched decades of change; some good, and some bad. Still, I am sad that these new generations don’t get some of the same experiences.
The 1970’s brought advancements in both civil rights and women’s rights. It was the decade of environmental awareness with Congress passing The Clean Air Act (1970), The Clean Water Act (1972), and The Endangered Species Act (1973). Roe vs Wade was established and birth control became a federally protected healthcare right.
Though President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, it wasn’t until the 1970s that real progress was made. In 1975, women were finally permitted access to the military academies (such as West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy). It was 1976 when women won the right to equal retirement and benefit standards as men who served in the military.
Women in the U.S. gained the federal right to open bank accounts and secure credit entirely on their own in 1974 with the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Prior to this federal law, many banks could legally refuse to issue a credit card or open a checking account for a woman without a husband’s signature or a male co-signer.
Relax – my point is this: EVERYONE has had a struggle and it is not always based on religion or color. As you read the events, you will see we all have lives through many things. We have endured disease, natural disasters, and also amazing advancements.
These things SHOULD bring us together instead of separating us.
The 1980’s brought the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first reusable space craft (the orbiter shuttle, Columbia) was implemented by NASA, the internet is opened for scientist in 1983, and CERN begins working on the world wide web in 1989. Small Pox was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization, the world was terrorized by the AIDs epidemic, and Mount Saint Helens blew her top off.
With the end of the cold war, students got to stop doing A-bomb drills at school.
Ahh, the safe feeling one had covering their head while huddled under a desk or tucked up against an inside hallway wall without windows…
Yeah, those were moments our kids will never understand.
The 1990’s brought the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union, and The Persian Gulf War kicked off with Operation Desert Storm, which was the first conflict to be televised live globally. In 1990, the Human Genome Project began, lasting 13 years. South African repeals its abhorrent apartheid laws while the 1992 LA Riots took place due to Rodney King being beat from police use of excessive force, and everyone was afraid the world would end with Y2K.
I partied like it was 1999… because it was.
How many of you are experiencing the Mandela Effect by the mere mention of apartheid?
Our DNA has shown us we are the same and yet, we are just as divided as ever.
When will we learn?
The 2000’s brought the completion of the Human Genome Project, continuous occupancy of the International Space Station (ISS), and the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. Facebook launches in 2004 while India was hit by a 7.6 earthquake followed by a devasting tsunami, Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans, and the Large Hadron Collider runs its first test on 2008. Pluto gets reclassified and is no longer considered a “planet.”
CERN didn’t know if the world would blow up, but they ran their test for science.
How many times did the world almost end so far in my life?
LOL
The 2010’s brought the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the invention of the first AIDs prevention drugs, and the development of gene editing. The year 2015 brought the U.S. national legalized same-sex marriage, and the activist movements of #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo were born. The catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in the Gulf of America and the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote both occurred in 2010.
Reliving 1999’s Y2K in the Mayan Doomsday Prophesy scares of 2012.
Good times. Good times.
And again, our moments of being able to unify still have not solidified us as a species.
I am still waiting to see what the 2020’s have in store for us. At the moment, I am anxious and frustrated. Everyone seems so charged with animosity…
Sometimes, despite all we have learned and accomplished, it is like we haven’t grown beyond our primal infancy. It makes me sad.
What do you think is on the horizon?
J.M. NORTHUP 
And then there was 2020 … that was fun. :( … seems like these tribulations spped up even as we watch.
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