Are You Ready? 2012 Will Be a Doozy!

Our country went through a lot of extreme weather events in 2011. We had blizzards, earthquakes and hurricanes in unlikely times, places and amounts. 

We also had unusual social events, like Occupy Wall Street, the supposed end of the world and who can forget the on-camera implosion of Charlie Sheen?

Well hold on, because 2012 will be a wild year too!

First of all, 2012 is a leap year, with an extra day February 29. And 2012 will be the only leap year to have THREE Friday the 13ths.

As long as we’re talking about superstitions, we might as well mention December 21, 2012, supposedly the end of a 5,000 year cycle on the Mayan calendar. That’s when some are expecting a world-wide catastrophe like the Earth hitting another planet, a super-volcano or nuclear war.

The good news is those who actually study these things say that there’s no such prediction in Mayan beliefs. And by the way, remember how the 2011 end-of-the-world predictions turned out?

Back to what will really happen in 2012. We'll have a few “every four years” occurrences. On July 27 the 2012 Summer Olympics will begin in London. Then back here in November there’s some sort of election happening …

Okay, it’s the 2012 Presidential Election we really want to talk about. Do you remember the last couple of elections? Man, they were not fun. Mudslinging, attack ads, and general hostility. Not just between the candidates, but between us ordinary folks. We know people on both sides who were attacked because of their bumper stickers!

This election year, it might help to keep in mind that except for George Washington, our country has NEVER had a unanimous choice for president. And the United States has survived. And for the most part, we’ve flourished. Here’s how the U.S. ranks against other countries: 

• 4^th on the United Nations Human Development Index.
• 13^th on the Economist's quality-of-life index (with a 7.6 out of 10 score).
• 17^th on the Human Poverty Index (one rank above Ireland).

In the U.S. we have more cars, TVs and personal computers per person than any other country. Most of us try to lose weight instead of going to bed hungry at night. Most of us are pretty well off, compared to most every other country.

That is not to say things are perfect. Things need fixing. But then they always do. And look at all the positive fixes we’ve made in just a few generations, including: 

• As of 1920 we gave all women the right to vote. 
• As of 1937 we got an 8-hour instead of a 10 to 12 hour workday and child labor was finally regulated. 
• We made segregation illegal in 1964.
• Today, nearly 150 years after slavery was abolished, we have our first African-American President. 

Let's keep it real. The world isn’t going to end and we’re stuck with each other. So this election year let's keep in mind that we’re Americans before we’re Democrats or Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Tea Partiers, Green Partiers or Occupiers, and that we can make the world's greatest nation, together.