As this issue of the Purple Gem celebrates, there have been some incredible moments this decade. The 2010’s brought an abundance of amazing and revolutionary inventions, ideas, and achievement; however, it also brought some tragic events, scary trends, and awful pop culture phenomena. Let’s take a look at the “worsts” of the decade in order to, hopefully, better the 2020s.
World Events
5. The Burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral (2019)
The Notre Dame Cathedral is a universally recognizable symbol of France and Catholicism alike. The cathedral was built to showcase the Catholic Church and France’s power. It took over two centuries and cost an immense amount of money to build (the original cost is unknown, but the predicted post-fire restoration costs are predicted to exceed $1 billion). The Notre Dame Cathedral also houses various relics, supposedly including the crown of thorns Jesus wore while on the cross. The burning of this world landmark is a true tragedy, but it will hopefully be restored in the future.
4. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
On March 8, 2014, a plane heading from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, disappeared during its flight. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on air traffic control radars around 40 minutes after take off and disappeared on military radars later. What happened to this plane remains unknown, but there are many different theories and conspiracies. The Atlantic published an article earlier this year detailing what happened on the day Malaysia Airlines Flight 710 disappeared and the efforts to solve the mystery of its disappearance. The worst part of this event is the possibility that, in the 21st century, a plane can just disappear and remain a mystery for 5 years.
3. Middle East Human Right Crisis
The Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia, has garnered attention this decade for a lack of progression towards equality and civil rights for various people groups. Human rights violations include laws discriminating against women, bans on public gatherings, the enforcement of the death penalty for offenders of non-serious crimes (misdemeanors, same sex relationships, etc.), and religious intolerance. Activists who have tried to speak out against these human rights offenses have been executed.
2. Hurricane Harvey (2017)
Hurricane Harvey was one of the most disastrous hurricanes to ever hit the United States. Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017, causing about $125 billion in damage. It directly or indirectly killed 88 people according to The Texas Tribune and 134,500 homes were damaged or destroyed according to the Houston Business Journal.
1. The Tohoku (Japan) Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)
On the afternoon of March 11, 2011, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Tohoku (a region in Japan). This 9.1 magnitude earthquake was the fourth largest earthquake in the world since record keeping began in 1900. It is estimated to have shifted the Earth on its axis by somewhere between 4 and 10 inches and moved Japan 8 feet east. The earthquake also caused a tsunami, which is thought to have moved 6 miles inland at 500 miles an hour, reaching a peak height of 131 feet. The tsunami reached over the walls of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and flooded the reactors, causing a nuclear meltdown. Governments around the world still recommend that people stay at least 12 miles away from Fukushima. The earthquake and tsunami combined have a confirmed death toll of nearly 20,000.
World Trends
5. Death by Selfie
Selfies have taken over the world this decade. People try to get the craziest, most impressive selfies, and while doing this, numerous people have gotten hurt or died. In a 2018 study, it was found that between October 2011 and November 2017, 259 people died attempting to take selfies, and that number has only risen since.
4. Climate Change
Climate change is being talked about more and more in the news, politics, and just general discussion. Due to high levels of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, the Earth is getting hotter. The Earth absorbs the Sun’s heat and radiates it upward. These greenhouse gases then absorb this heat in the atmosphere and radiate it back down towards the Earth’s surface. This has caused an increase in the Earth’s overall temperature and sea level and a decrease in arctic ice. It has been predicted that if we do not decrease out levels of greenhouse gas output, parts of the Earth may become unlivable by 2100 according to a group of studies compiled by Business Insider.
3. Suicide Rate Increases in America
Suicide and mental health has been an issue that has been talked about more this decade than ever. Suicide rates have been steadily increasing throuout this entire decade and will most likely continue to increase. From 2010 to 2017 (available data only goes to 2017), suicide rates increased by 12% for males and 18% for females. This is a scary trend, but schools and independent organizations are doing more and more to help people with mental health issues, which will hopefully help reverse this trend.
2. The Alt-right movement
The term “alt-right” was coined in 2010, and since then, there has been an international increase in alt-right ideologies and sentiments. According to the ADL, alt-right is defined as “[people who] identify with a range of different ideologies that put white identity at their centers...Though not every person who identifies with the Alt Right is a white supremacist, most are and ‘white identity’ is central to people in this milieu.” From the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally to the Christchurch New Zealand mosque shooting, the alt-right has shown their presence around the world through by committing heinous acts of violence. Hopefully this movement as well as the prejudice and bigotry shown by it will die by the end of this decade.
1. An increase in mass shootings in America
If America during the 2010’s will be known for one thing, it will be the mass shootings. Sandy Hook, Stoneman Douglas, the Las Vegas Strip shooting, these horrible events destroyed families, ruined communities, and most importantly, stole people’s lives away from them. According to Vox, there have been 2,315 mass shootings in America since the Sandy Hook shooting (2012). 2,617 people have been killed during these shootings and numerous more people have been injured. These numbers were updated on the day of this article’s writing. No words can be used to describe the awfulness of these events. These mass shootings will surely go down in history as a defining characteristic of this decade.
Culture
5. The Emoji Movie
Roughly one million people went to see The Emoji Movie in its first week. All of those people spent $10 to watch an hour of ads from companies such as Facebook and Dropbox. There is a reason this movie has a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is one of the worst pieces of media ever created.
4. Harlem Shake
Just look up a video of it on Youtube. It's disgusting.
3. Cancel Culture
It feels like every week a new celebrity is getting “canceled.” Someone says or does something problematic, and suddenly people want to end their career. Even worse, people are digging up tweets or pictures of people saying or doing problematic things from years prior and using them to “cancel” people. People’s careers and lives should not be ruined because of one thing they said.
2. The Death of Club Penguin
Club Penguin was an amazing creation. The game where you could just hang out with your friends, but as a penguin dressed in karate gear. Only people that played it can truly understand what a loss the end of Club Penguin was. R.I.P. Club Penguin, 10/24/2005-3/29/2017.
1. The Death of Good Kids Shows
Remember Sweet Life on Deck, The Fairly OddParents, Phineas and Ferb, or Wizards of Waverly Place? Earlier this decade, it was possible to go to Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and watch a good show. Now one of the most popular shows on Disney Channel is about a bunch of kids who want to be famous on a knock-off Youtube, and Jake Paul is in the show making it even worse. Do kids shows that were made towards the end of the 2010s suck or is everyone just nostalgic about their favorite childhood shows? Who knows, but what can be said for certain is that TV channels we grew up on are not the same.
By: Clay Wallace