A walk through long-ago opinions found in this newspaper reaffirms that every year is eventful in its own way. It shows too that what worries people and nations alike remains remarkably consistent across the decades.
Fifty years ago, with America immersed in the Apollo age of space travel, concerns here on Earth still dominated headlines and topics of opinion columnists.
The New Year’s Day editorial of 1969 sighed deeply over a foreign war. “We have become involved in a war that frustrates our tradition of decisive victories — a war that has taken more than 30,000 American lives — that has bought us far more critics than friends abroad and created deep divisions at home.” Sound familiar?
Race relations were also cause for concern, along with the state of cities, including our own. Ditto for issues like urban transportation and affordable housing.
That editorial of 1969 held out hope that humankind’s spirit would prevail over challenges. “Man is frail, and man errs. He is too self-centered and too greedy. But he has a mighty brain and a remarkable ability to learn from experience.”
Moving positively forward from past experiences should give us hope still, as our troubled world rolls into a new year.
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