Can we learn lessons from a bad year?

It would be a shame not to take advantage of change

News agencies are often criticized for focusing on bad news, and let’s face it, there was an awful lot of it last year.

This year, things should get better, and you can expect journalists to focus on that too.

Medically, socially, financially, politically, environmentally — it’s all likely to improve and there are already many stories and much reason for hope and optimism.

But I suppose it depends on whether you are a glass-halffull or glass-half-empty kind of person. Journalism celebrates triumph, but doesn’t shy away from tragedy.

Meanwhile, every story has a lesson. Everything we do as a local newspaper seeks to help readers learn, and communities improve. That often involves pointing out deficiencies.

And it would be a shame if we — as a society — did not take advantage of many of the lessons from 2020, or if journalism failed in its mission to ensure that we do not.

Let’s just look at a few lessons from 2020, and see how can we might begin to apply some on a local level?

We learned politicians can get along if they need to, that governments can act quickly if they are united, and that bureaucracies can move faster than we thought. Are we prepared to accept the endless consultation and obstruction of the old days or will we start to act with purpose on making our communities better?

We learned that despite all the bickering, people like being together. We like to get out of our homes and into public spaces. We need green spaces to renew ourselves and connect with nature. We learned we liked walking, and enjoying our neighbourhoods and exploring our city. We learned we can work and live and shop and dine out without completely relying on our cars. And we learned our communities are not particularly friendly to pedestrians.

Will we, therefore, create more public spaces and people places in Hamilton, more parks and natural areas, wider and safer sidewalks and pathways, or will we continue to spend the bulk of our money on what has worked in the past? In future, will Hamilton be a city for people, or a city for cars where traffic flows smoothly and parking is plentiful?

Other communities and companies have already made permanent changes as a result of the pandemic. Will our communities and community leaders also find a silver lining in an atrocious year. Will we make lemonade in 2021from the lemon of 2020?

It should be obvious by now that life is never going to be the same. It is up to all of us to ensure that it gets better. Journalism, as always, will do its best to help.