2017 Can Hear You. Everybody Act Natural.

2016 is almost over, and there are tons of people celebrating it's departure. I suppose for most it's been a crappy year. 2016 is taking Carrie Fisher and Prince with it, while leaving behind a president-elect who largely resembles a sociopathic orangutan.(no offense to orangutans...or sociopaths, for that matter.) It shouldn't be surprising that there is a prominent attitude of "let's just go ahead and get this thing over with already."

I've seen the tweets and status updates broadcasting plans to "stay up until midnight, just so we can watch 2016 die!"

And I've even seen broad proclamations of "2016 was the worst year EVER!" Just scroll through Twitter if you don't believe me.

But really?

2016 was the worst year ever?

Worse than 1348, the year the Black Death reached England, spreading through most of Europe and parts of Asia and the Middle East? Now known as Bubonic Plague, the heinous disease would claim almost 60 percent of Europe's population (taking around 1.5 million human lives) and creating a series of religious, social, and economic cataclysms that would rock the world for centuries.

Worse than 1666, when The Great Plague of London swept across England? It was like Black Death, The Sequel, claiming the lives of more than 100,000 people. And just when you thought the Plague was enough to classify a year as pretty darned shitty, 1666 decided to throw in The Great Fire of London just to keep things real. The fire destroyed over 70,000 homes... which might have been a good thing considering all of those Plague germs laying around. But I wouldn't mention that to anyone whose home just went up in roaring flames if I were you.

Would you say 2016 was worse than 1919 when an influenza pandemic (which started in 1918. Another pretty shitty year) swept over the planet? That was a neat little population reducer, killing off about three to five percent of the world's humans. Also that year, Germany was strong-armed into signing the Treaty of Versailles, which pinned all the blame for World War I on them, plunging that country into a huge economic depression setting the scene for Adolf Hitler to rise to power.

Which brings us to 1933, the year Hitler became the chancellor of Germany and opened the first concentration camp at Dachau, where tens of thousands of prisoners would die. How does 2016 measure to this one? Keep in mind this was also the worst year of The Great Depression. One in four American citizens were unemployed and trying to figure out how to keep their families fed.

Was 2016 worse than 1994, when over 800,000 Rwandans lost their lives in less than 100 days? Maybe only if you were a Tutsi.

How about 2001? Remember those thousands of Americans who lost their lives in the al-Qaeda hijackings that targeted the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11? Almost 3,000 innocent people died in that one. It also marked the beginning of the War on Terror which has also cost the world thousands and thousands of lives. Have we forgotten that? Even when we promised we wouldn't?

Are a few celebrity deaths (although admittedly brilliant celebrities) enough to trump pandemics and war and genocide? Even when we toss this past U.S. presidential election and Brexit into the mix, 2016 still seems relatively tame.

Just trying to throw a little cold harsh perspective in your face, lest 2016 leave you feeling like you need to cower in a safe space with some coloring books, play doh, and some cute friendly therapy dogs because you just can't even. Maybe people are whining about 2016 and it's "Worst. Year. EVER." status, because we've watered down history and discouraged critical thinking. Maybe our failing public education systems are to blame. I mean even a vague understanding of world history should keep anyone from casting such a sweeping claim. Let's be honest, there have been way shittier years in human history than 2016. In comparison, 2016 looks like some sort of punk poser.

Just stop it with the insults to 2016. Sure it was more than a tad on the crappy side, but 2017 is close enough to hear you now. I don't want it to think all of this whining and moping and complaining is some sort of challenge. We don't want 2017 lurking just a few short days away to hear our ranting. We don't want it to come crashing in on January 1 screaming, "You thought 2016 was bad? Here.... Hold my beer and WATCH THIS!"

Everybody just keep quiet and act natural.

That Whole Revolution Was For Nothing

We don't watch a lot of television in our house. It's not necessarily because we don't want to, or that we've made some sort of conscious decision to refrain from passive entertainment or mental and emotional escapes from reality, or that we don't want our minds overly influenced by media propaganda.

Of course, all of those would be great reasons to not watch television, but the truth is that we're just too busy for the television. Which I suppose isn't a bad thing.

Like a lot of Americans, we watched the Super Bowl, not necessarily because we were overly interested in the game. I couldn't have cared less about the outcome (although that fist fight near the end was entertaining), but we fried hot wings and heated chili cheese dip and fixed up cold cuts with most of the country anyway. We watched the game as a family more for the experience than any real interest in the final score.

Because we don't watch a lot of television, we sometimes miss out on a lot of the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) messages that come through in product advertising, so maybe I'm over-reacting, but I'm a little disgusted with the Turbo Tax commercial.


So...

"Wait... Isn't that the Boston Tea Party?" my eleven year-old asked seeming confused. "Why aren't they dressed like Indians?"

At least she's paying attention during history lessons.

"But why did they call off the whole thing?"

I'm glad she was confused, because honestly so was I.

In an attempt to be funny, the Turbotax advertisers insulted the founding fathers and their cause, but they also managed to make a few accurate cultural statements:

A runaway tyrannical government is acceptable so long as it's throwing free stuff at it's citizens.

and

Taxation isn't all that bad. At least it's not costing us as much as it could. (Meanwhile, the average citizen is chucking over almost 60% of his/her income in the form of taxes... but at least we can file for FREE!)

and

Sometimes the government makes it look like we're getting a good deal while they are still screwing us over.

and

It's easy to pacify the masses if they are entertained.

That last one is especially true considering my entire family voluntarily spent a Sunday night watching a state-sanctioned gladiatorial game of virtual combat interspersed with psychological (yet humorous) propaganda promoting the apathy of the masses.

But it made for some interesting discussion points at the family dinner table.

"If taxes were the main reason for the Revolutionary War, why aren't more people today upset about paying so much in taxes?"

Good question, kiddos.

"Isn't tyranny still cruel even when they act like they are being nice?"

I guess that depends on your perspective.

"Would people actually give up their freedom so easily."

I hope not... and yet, they do. A little bit every day.

Thanks for the discussions, Tubotax. We couldn't have done it without you.

But we won't be using your product anyway.