No doubt the calendar year 2020 was an extremely different and difficult year for the world. For some the traditional “Happy New Year” greeting has been replaced by “thank God 2020 is over.” For me, the past years merely serve as a stepping stone to the following years and so on. Each year comes with its ups and downs, but for some reason 2020 seemed more of a downer and not because of any particular thing that happened to me but more so because I had to bear witness to what I can only characterize as a constant disappointment in human behavior.
In any given year, I’ve had to deal with worse things, loss of loved ones, financial insecurity, loneliness and guilt for my own personal shortcomings. However, I was never prepared nor did I feel so helpless in the face of a display of such idiocy and stubbornness on issues that were/are so plain and common sense.
In my opinion, the two major crises that occurred in 2020 happened before, and one would think we should have learned from them: the COVID-19 pandemic and the culmination of a social pandemic brought on by a four-year presidency.
Before you start taking sides, let me at least offer a “third” opinion on the argument that has entrenched itself on “two” sides. So what is the argument? As an observer, it appears that the argument of 2020 was “who is more American” and how does one express, in their words and actions, their Americanism. I, for one, can’t understand why practicing sensible hygiene and taking protective measures for others sake in the middle of a pandemic is an American issue. I also can’t understand why I should believe or trust in a leader who is an adulterer, who then lies about it and pays ransom for another’s silence in defiance of a religion that he has sworn to. American virtue? What is there to argue? Certainly, we all possess the right to believe in what we chose. But shouldn’t that belief be founded in the truth and righteousness? It seems that most of 2020 was a constant competition of perceived “rights” over common sense and decency.
I remember clearly Jan. 17, 1993, standing with my wife and three children and 15,000 other listeners as the speaker shouted out “We are not Americans, we are not Americans.” The issue was Hawaiian sovereignty. At the time, I felt very uncomfortable because up until that moment I had spent my life learning and believing in American ideals, the American dream and assimilation. What has occurred for me since then is a never ending quest for truth.
I remember, when going through my ancestry, discovering that my paternal grandfather emigrated from China and arrived in the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1877. I remember when going through my ancestry I learned that my maternal great-grandfather emigrated from Boston to the Kingdom of Hawaii and married my full-blooded Hawaiian great-grandmother. I was not born American, I was born in the Territory of Hawaii.
Because of my ancestry and personal history, I have felt less connected to Americanism and more connected to humanism. And without being too critical, I feel more uncomfortable in facing the Americanism of 2021 than I felt in 1993. That does not make me unpatriotic, instead I am free to choose and define my patriotism connected to a human and humane history and not to the foolish acts of a nation and its people.
Usually, writing down my thoughts helps me to unwind and think through things more clearly. I’m still as confused as I was when I started writing this. So as a final note of dissension, I’m going to celebrate the 2021 commencing on Feb. 12, the Chinese New Year year 4,718 on the lunar calendar. Act as if 2020 was 2,698 lunar years ago. I’m going to watch less cable news and more Netflix to sooth my soul. I’ll honk next time I pass flag wavers on the street, no matter what flag they are waving. I’ll try harder not forget my face mask in the car. I’ll compliment my wife on how stylish her mask looks on her, even the plain ones. I’ll try to be less critical and listen more, I can’t promise I’ll agree with you.
Charles Young is a resident of Honaunau.