My headline is a bit misleading, as, in many ways, I am NOT looking forward to 2022. I am largely pessimistic about our short-term future, but in the long-term, I have a stubborn belief in the American spirit to steady itself when the ship of state shifts too far to the right or to the left.

There is also the reality that the future is, at best, guesswork. Even the smartest people get it wrong. Albert Einstein wrote in 1932, “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable.” Yet, it was Einstein’s science that made nuclear power possible. Time Magazine projected the future in 1966 and noted, “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop because women like to get out of the house like to handle the merchandise like to be able to change their minds.” The best was the 1995 prediction by Robert Metcalfe, president of the 3Com Corporation, who commented, “I predict the internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse.” As the keynote speaker at the 1997 International World Wide Web Conference, he literally ate his words about a “gigalapse” by taking the quote written on a printed page, putting it in a blender, adding some water, and drinking it.

Yet, it is worse to not even attempt to look down the road. Vice President Kamala Harris recently admitted that the Biden administration didn’t see Delta or Omicron coming. This is more than a little odd because expecting a novel virus, or any virus for that matter, to continue to mutate is almost a sure thing. So, with common sense in mind, I would like to make what I think are two pretty safe predictions for Two Thousand and Twenty-Two.

First, we can definitely expect the United States to continue to be polarized — the “woke culture” on one side and the “don’t tread on me” folks on the other. There is presently not anyone, be they a politician, celebrity, or public figure, that seems to be able to speak to both groups. Everyone is fitting every message into their own narrative.

There was a time when Americans could differ greatly yet still come together because there was a belief that we were “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” But when we take away God, our unity, our liberty and make justice subjective rather than law-based, nothing is left to agree on.

We have seen this in the Lycoming County Commissioners meetings through the past several years. The ‘offended’ people group will pack the meeting room, and one after another will come to the microphone and say basically the same thing. The commissioners will be polite and promise to consider their concerns, and the ‘offended’ will leave glad they did their part for the cause. And in the end, the commissioners will do what they think is the best for all and not be influenced by the packed house.

My second prediction is that every plan, program, or event will be ‘penciled’ in because nothing will be set in stone in the coming year. I have already noted the uncertainty that inflation brings to an economy in a recent column. But it goes down to every level. Will there be a Little League World Series? If so, what will it look like? Will there be any of the usual fairs, concerts, sports activities, etc., etc.? For that matter, will schools even be open, and if so, when and how? I am an old guy, sneaking up on 70 years of age, and never in my lifetime have I ever seen a new year come in with more uncertainties.

And perhaps that is the only sure prediction for 2022 — it will be uncertain.