Jay GreesonWe are a week from Thanksgiving, the annual holiday when we eat too much, complain a little less and are reminded for the most part how good we have it.
This year, that’s especially important.
I started this with the thought of writing about how bad 2016 has been. Since it is a week before Thanksgiving, a day when we all are overtly grateful, maybe this was the day to be retrospectively bitter.
I mean, 2016 has been no picnic, right?
There are the shootings and other horrifying acts of violence in our streets.
There are the drought and the record-setting heat that have reached levels that half the time we are expecting Paul Barys’ glorious beard to spontaneously combust during one of his nightly forecasts on WRCB.
And, of course, there has been the most vitriolic political tug-of-war in modern history that has infected our national discourse that feels, sounds and reads like the comments section on a controversial YouTube video.
As for those we celebrated, we have lost Pat Summitt and Ali and Prince and Bowie. Not to mention the folks in each of our families whom we cherished.
Every time we turn around, the next wave of headlines ranges from sadness to frustration to simple rage.
Heck, Wednesday we learned that “post-truth” has been selected as the international word of the year by the Oxford University Press.
Forget truth, right? Who needs it in the moment, when you can wipe away mistakes with “post-truth?”
Post-truth is defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
Which means it is the term used to convey that the basis for our discussions is feelings rather than facts in general. It also leads us to the place where attaching blame – be it the other side or the messenger – is way more meaningful than accountability.
Post-truth got a huge debut with the Brexit voters and became a universal term in the lead-up to last week’s presidential election.
Well, as 2016 draws to its conclusion – and it has to be getting close since the Christmas decorations have been up at the Wal-Mart for like three weeks already – let’s make post-truth a postage stamp on the goodbye letter to 2016.
Let’s be optimistic about and watchful over the new administration moving forward, with each side willing to point out both Donald Trump’s mistakes and successes.
Let’s hope for the best and prepare for whatever may come. Let’s believe we all can do better, but remind ourselves daily that sentiment starts with each of us.
Let’s embrace what is important – it’s God, family, country for me – and remember those things vary from person to person.
Next week, we’ll all remember to be thankful, as many of us will celebrate our bounties.
But let’s also remember that we as a nation have a lot of work to do, and jobs that big can only be accomplished if each individual – all of us, regardless of the color of your skin, your checking account balance or your political affiliation – is willing to pitch in.
So in the coming weeks we’ll say goodbye to 2016 and the word that aims to convince us facts are an afterthought.
And that’s something for which to be truly thankful.
After all, who in a million years would ever buy into the phrase, “Post-truth, justice and the American way.”
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.