John Phipps: Here are the 10 Things We Learned in 2021
U.S. Farm Report 010122 - Johns World
The poet Shelley wrote: “We look before and after and pine what is not.” That seems appropriate, although there are some things we might not have pined for.
- South Korea joining the Death Cross Club where deaths exceed births. Countries above the line have more births than deaths. Note the difference between 1972, when only Germany was in the club and 1919.
- Boomers exited the work force in droves. Over 90% of the continuing labor force decline has been workers over 55. More than people too lazy to work, we have more people, thanks to government payments and a booming stock market, who can retire earlier than they imagined.
- We steadily cut the cable. It’s all about streaming, although many of discover we’re paying pretty much the same for Netflix, Disney, Hulu, etc.
- The pace of space exploration and exploitation zoomed up like a, well…rocket. Spacex just landed its 100th booster rocket successfully. And Captain Kirk finally went where several actually have gone before.
- Somebody blabbed that farmers were flush with cash. There were valid reasons but ag-related corporate boards seem to have adopted the W.C. Fields’ business advice. The supply chain and chip shortage were perfect excuses and near monopolies provided the muscle.
- Social media may have peaked as mass media. During this year popular platforms continued to fracture into splinter groups with hardened lines between them, while serious questions about manipulation and veracity were raised.
- We finally noticed the cyberwar quietly being waged by anybody against anybody, but especially against large corporations who can pay whopping ransoms. You don’t need and army for war anymore.
- A record amount of amateur home improvement was perpetrated in 2021. One of the top ten projects was smart home devices, which may bring unexpected risks.
- The Avoidance Alternative became a lifestyle. Many of us found Covid helped us decide who we like to be around and who we merely put up with. This seemed to work and decimated group activities.
- For the first time, women comprised 60% of our college student body. Although a longstanding trend, this year brought increased scrutiny to its implications.
There were of course many other things of note, but these caught my attention.
