The Year 2020 Events

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The Year 2020 Event Analysis

The year 2020 has been somewhat one of the worst years for the vast majority of the people. Arguably, many people living today have never faced a global pandemic. It is understood that the Spanish Flue, which happened in 1918, was one of its kind as it came in four successive waves, claiming the lives of at least 50 million people across the world, where over 650,000 deaths occurred in the United States. An estimated 500 million people contracted the deadly influenza virus (Trilla, Trilla & Daer, 2008). In 2020, Covid 19, bush fires, unlawful behavior, and social injustices have nearly brought the world into its knees. This paper critically looks at three significant events that have struck the world in 2020 and the consequential effects of those events.

First is the outbreak of Covid19 (Coronavirus). It is speculated that Coronavirus originated from the wholesale food market in- Wuhan, China, as the first identifiable human case with onset of systems came from Wuhan. February 2020 was somewhat the worst month as the pandemic rapidly spread across the globe through people. According to medical research, Covid-19 spread through contact and respiratory droplets. So far, Coronavirus has taken its toll in the world, leading to fatalities, illnesses, not to mention economic despair. Following the rising number of deaths related to Coronavirus, many countries went to a shutdown aiming to counter the spread of the deadly virus. China, United States, France, Italy, Spain, and England were the worst-hit nations, and they were forced into lockdown, and in return, many people lost their jobs (Fernandes, 2020). Production and supply of goods across the globe paralyzed, financial markets dropped significantly, international air travel banned, causing even more suffering to the people of the nations.

Among the worst affected countries arguably support many economies of the world. Those countries could no longer give donations and loans to the least developed countries since they have been hit so severely and should then primarily focus on their problems. Presumably, the world economy will take some time to regain, and so do the global poverty will continue haunting the people of the nations. It argued that Coronavirus is pushing approximately 45-65 million individuals into extreme poverty (Fernandes, 2020). However, the global poverty estimation comes with a lot of uncertainty as it is not known yet if the cases will continue to rise or drop and how that will project growth and poverty.

Secondly, social injustices and unlawful behavior happening across the globe. In the United States, a video showing an African American lying in the street in anguish went viral on social media and awakened the concerned people of the nations. George Floyd, 46, had an altercation with a white male police officer, and the action ended in despair as the police heartlessly pressed Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes and brutally ended his life (Samayeen, Wong, & McCarthy, 2020). Mostly in the United States, many people protested against discrimination of African American communities. There have been numerous cases where some white supremacists have brutally killed African American people and walked freely as the black communities are viewed as of the lowest class in the society. Such acts have led to the creation of movements intending to unite people of all the races and discourage the stereotype of white are the superiors. The actions of the vicious killing of people based on their race will only fuel hatred among different races. People cannot live with hostility, we are all humans, and we should make the world a better place of all the races.

To conclude, Harvey Weinstein will be serving a jail sentence for 23 years after being found guilty of sexually assaulting women. Weinstein is a well-recognized former film producer. Over eighty women victims have accused him of sexual harassment and rape since 2017 (Peters, & Besley, 2019). Numerous reports claimed that Weinstein tended to invite young actresses in different places, pretending to discuss their careers, and eventually, Weinstein could demand massages or sex. Weinstein repeatedly lied to the young models that complying with his sex terms would help their career in the filming industry. Over the years, some wealthy and powerful men in the filming industries have taken advantage of women and often get away with it. For long, women have been taken as sexual objects. Indeed, the jailing of Weinstein has come as a lesson that nobody is above the law. Such vicious acts may discourage young women aspiring to join the industry as they risk being robbed of their dignity.

References

Fernandes, N. (2020). Economic effects of coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) on the world economy. Available at SSRN 3557504.

Peters, M. A., & Besley, T. (2019). Weinstein, sexual predation, and ‘Rape Culture’: Public pedagogies and Hashtag Internet activism.

Samayeen, N., Wong, A., & McCarthy, C. (2020). Space to breathe: George Floyd, BLM plaza and the monumentalization of divided American Urban landscapes.

Trilla, A., Trilla, G., & Daer, C. (2008). The 1918 “Spanish flu” in Spain. Clinical infectious diseases, 47(5), 668-673.