EDITORIAL

While we readily concede that December 31, 2019 will mark the end of a decade, ordinarily defined as any period of ten years, we are not yet prepared to be persuaded that it marks the end of the decade, (the second of the twenty-first century) simply because it is the last year before the twenty- twenties begin. This debate, it appears, is universal. In a November 28 article headlined “When does the new decade begin: In a year or a month from now?” the prestigious New York Times published the following –

“Using a modified Julian date, the 2020s will begin on Jan. 1, 2021, Dr. Mac Low said.

But that is out of sync with common usage. According to Emily Brewster, a senior editor at Merriam-Webster, a decade in popular culture is not defined by scientific convention. Because of this, the 2020s will begin on Jan. 1, 2020, and end on Dec. 31, 2029, Ms. Brewster said.

“It is interesting that there is this arbitrariness,” she said. “It’s unconventional, like language.”

CNN also weighed in more recently –

“Because there’s no year 0 in the calendar, the first year was complete at the end of year 1, not at its beginning.

By that same logic, the first decade in the calendar was complete at the end of 10 CE, or 10 AD.?

Which means, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, that the end of this decade is December 31, 2020, not December 31, 2019.”

Be that as it may, the argument has no real substance beyond the diversion it provides, being akin to one as to who was the better batsman between Bradman and Sobers, since nothing of current import turns on it. CNN interjected –

“Those technicalities, however, don’t change the fact that as a society, we seem to have collectively determined that decades begin in years ending in zero and end on years ending in nine.”

Of course, we agree that popular usage will refuse to accept that the roaring twenties of the twenty first century do not at include the very year 2020.

But whether it marks the start of a new decade or not, the year 2020 promises to be one of great excitement locally, with the much anticipated gathering of Barbadians in the diasporas of the globe on their return to the land of their birth. Even as we eagerly await their return, we are silently praying that not only will our people be on their best behaviour, but that the social services such as water and garbage collection that have been so regrettably erratic in their supply in recent times will not let down this country’s vaunted reputation for punching above its weight class.

In this connection, we should also pay special heed to the high local incidence of acts of violence that burgeoned into an unprecedented 48 murders in 2019. The enactment of draconian legislation can do only so much and it is as nothing in the absence of its enforcement.

We also urge the authorities to consider once more the advancement of our nation into republican status. This is a matter impatient of structured mature debate and we believe that next year’s emphasis on the parochial and wider national kinship of our people is as good a place as any to begin this conversation.

On this the last Sunday in the year, we offer to readers of The Barbados Advocate our very best wishes for a blessed and healthy 2020 and pray that the mercy of God will be bestowed on you always.