The Worst of Times

By Geoffrey Carter

Artwork by Michael DiMilo

2020 began badly—and quickly worsened. In early January, devastating brushfires in Australia ended up killing wild animals by the billions and destroying millions of acres of land and property. About a week later, scientists first detected the coronavirus in Wuhan. It swept across China, Europe, and began its long devastating march across the United States. The U.S. went into lockdown in mid-March; restaurants and most businesses remain closed, but still—despite all this, over 200,000 Americans have died from COVID 19. Millions more have lost their jobs. Most schools are closed. Evictions are on the rise. 

And then murder hornets invaded Washington state. A record number of hurricanes and tropical storms swept into our Gulf States, causing devastating wind damage and flooding. The West Coast is being consumed by raging wildfires. Violent protests and rioting erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Heavily armed white supremacists, emboldened by President Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric, walk the streets of our cities ready to—in their own words—protect private property. Protests continue today. And, now, this last weekend, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away.

This last blow seems particularly devastating; Justice Ginsburg represented one of the last bastions of integrity and courage in Washington. She gave us hope. Her tenacity and fierceness in the struggle for women’s rights was legendary. Her toughness was awe-inspiring and very nearly unbelievable; her loss to the country and the American people will be immeasurable. Her memory has been cheapened by the Republicans’ desperate struggle to fill her seat before the November election, but her legacy will remain untarnished.

2020 has been a year of destruction, disease, and decay. The world seems to be slipping away, rotting from underneath us. Images of blood-red skies over San Francisco and gunplay in our streets followed the horrors of seeing dozens of bodies of COVID victims in refrigerated trucks and images of our hometown streets on fire. 

Life in quarantine seemed like a death of sorts. During the first days of the lockdown, the streets were virtually deserted. Traffic was almost non-existent. Contacts on the phone and social media seemed disembodied and unreal. I remember the days being mostly cold and gray, following each other like exhausted soldiers, uniform in their solitude and silence. Sleeping late, overeating, and not showering became the norm. Friends seemed like ghosts, images from a past life. 

A semblance of normalcy returned—sort of—when summer came. People were outside, sometimes practicing social distancing, sometimes not, and were attempting to live more normal lives. But there was no Summerfest, no Brewers games, and no outdoor concerts. The virus never went away and in fact—due to negligence and indifference at our highest levels of government—infected more people than ever before. Some schools remain closed, while others shut their doors after infections raced through their buildings. 

Now, in the autumn, we have a national election plagued by worries of foreign interference, voter suppression, and even an American president attempting to sabotage the United States Post Office. And now we’ve lost our RBG. 

Justice Ginsburg had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. This, in fact, had been her fifth bout with cancer. She never complained and she never stopped working. Those of us who have witnessed the ravages of this disease know it is not an easy death; but her dignity and her courage in the face of this disease were remarkable, although hardly surprising.

While we mourn her loss, we also have the opportunity to celebrate her life, her career, and to reflect on her life. Her dedication to the law, and specifically to the expansion of women’s rights, is testament to her determination and to her humanity. During her career, she battled for gender equality under the law, equal pay, sex discrimination, liberalization of civil liberties and civil rights. Her focus never wavered; her will never diminished. 

RBG was not motivated by the need for wealth or power but for the need for equality and fairness in the lives of all Americans, including workers, minorities, women, the oppressed, and the accused. She said at one point that she was trying to live the life her mother should have lived had it not been for sexism and discrimination. Justice Ginsburg didn’t talk about herself or her accomplishments; she let her life speak for itself. Young women—or men—could not find a finer role model. She will be missed. Her tiny shoes will be very hard to fill, particularly if the Supreme Court once again falls victim to partisan politics. 

In these worst of times, we can take solace and find hope in the fact that one individual can make a huge difference. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not a typical person. She had reached the highest pinnacle of her profession, yet never ceased to fight for the rights of the humblest among us. 

If Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death makes up the worst of times, then her life and her legacy, her memory and her inspiration will help us return to the best of times.