Where are we now? How the world changed since Bowie’s death

Something happened on the day he died…*

David Bowie died eight years ago today.

All of these things happened since then:

– Donald Trump was elected president, was defeated for re-election, attempted to illegally retain power through a failed coup, was indicted for reasons related to that and everything else and launched his third bid for president.

– COVID-19 came into existence has so far killed about 7 million people worldwide. We went through a lockdown before a vaccine was created and immediately became a political issue, so too many people didn’t get vaccinated and the ever-mutating disease persisted and keeps killing people. Because even more people have lost incalculable work hours both from the disease itself and long COVID, it has also inflicted massive economic harm. COVID is on pace to kill more Americans this year (2024) than died in the entire Vietnam War.

– Klepto-fascist dictator Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin’s American third column supporters in Congress have been trying to do what they can to help him just about ever since. Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack against Israel, sparking another war in which even more human beings have died. The war industry seems to be on a solid footing.

– The effects of climate change have dramatically accelerated, contributing to some of the most extreme weather events since humans began tracking such things. These include monster fires, hurricanes, floods and snow storms. Pro tip: don’t but real estate in Miami.

– American’s detachment from the concept of objective reality seemed to expand, as the QAnnon conspiracy theory took on theological proportions. Millions of Americans are devoted adherents to the movement. There are similar spinoff cults in other countries. Of everything on this list, that QAnnon is a thing it hardest to actually believe.

– Artificial Intelligence has gotten to the point of being scary. Chat GBT is now a thing.

– Streaming became a more dominant way we get our entertainment. I don’t think it’s become the singularly dominant way we get our entertainment, at least not yet. CDs seem to be on the way out, but vinyl records made a comeback. The last Blockbuster closed in 2018.

– Real-life Bond villain Elon Musk purchased Twitter and has just about finished destroying it. He’s also trying to destroy world democracy along with it, but that too is unfinished work.

– Another byproduct of both technology and the pandemic has been the rise of remote work and the decline of the tie. My closet has sadly become graveyard for some very nice ties.

– Queen Elizabeth died and Great Britain left the European Union. These events do not appear to be related.

– After briefly becoming a national hero, Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor of New York. Before he did that, he appointed me to the Public Service Commission.

– In addition to Bowie and the Queen, other notable deaths included Sean Connery, Prince, Pope Benedict, Chadwick Boseman, Stan Lee, Carrie Fisher, Henry Kissinger, Aretha Franklin and Superstar Billy Graham. Not Jimmy Carter. Most of us have experienced too much personal loss to adequately express.

Few if any of these developments are related to Bowie’s death, but the world has ch-ch-ch-changed quite a bit over the past eight years. I’m not sure for the better.

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OK, Ok. I would be remiss not to mention one development that might be more enduring in a good way than it seems at the moment— our understanding of the Universe expanded as a result of the amazing images produced by the Webb space telescope. I was blown away by these images and suspect that they represent a first step into a wider world. I’m pretty sure that Bowie also would have thought they were cool.

Also, the next generation’s greatest artist, statesman, scientist, educator, doctor, community organizer, entrepreneur, therapist, philanthropist, chef, soldier, cop, firefighter and postal worker (and utility regulator) were all born since 2016. We just don’t known who they are yet.

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* This was an intentionally prophetic line from one of Bowie’s final songs, “Blackstar”