An electronic board reads "Stay at Home" during the "preventative and compulsory" lockdown of the population due to the pandemic outbreak of the new Coronavirus, COVID-19 in Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 23, 2020. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's Note:
Pedro Brieger is an Argentine journalist and sociologist, author of several books and contributor to publications on international issues.
He is currently the director of Nodal, a portal dedicated to news from Latin America and the Caribbean.
He is also a television columnist on C5N in Argentina and on the program «En la frontera» on PúblicoTV (Spain), and on Argentine radio on Radio10, La Red, La Tribu and LT9-Santa Fe. Throughout his career, Brieger has received important awards for his informative work on radio and television in Argentina.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author.
(CNN Spanish) -
On December 31 of each year at 11:59 pm, families raise their glasses and wish each other a “happy new year”.
But what will we do if the year doesn't end?
How do we define when a year ends?
In general and by calendar, in almost the entire western and Christian world it is the Gregorian that determines a change of year.
Actually, it is a convention, because life goes on and there is no substantial change between December 31 and January 1.
It is also true that some dates have motivated reflections on the link between time and history.
Consider for example that the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led the British historian Eric Hobsbawm to define the 20th century as a "short" century that would have begun in 1914 - although for him it more important was the Bolshevik revolution of 1917– and ended in 1991. Since each century lasts the same if we only measure it with the variable of time;
but historical cycles do not necessarily respect our conventions and the idea of a "short" century marks the importance of the Soviet Union in the history of the 20th century.
It is interesting to note that in the United States, as a result of the attack on the Twin Towers, there were those who argued that the 20th century had extended until September 2001. Given the magnitude of what happened, they lengthened it.
LOOK: OPINION | When I travel I seek to walk through history
And now?
Can we say that the year 2020 ends on December 31 while a global pandemic is unfolding?
Or is it the pandemic that determines that this 2020 continues?
In fact, in many countries there are restrictions on family gatherings at Christmas and New Years.
How rare our parties will be that the Chancellor of Ireland had to declare that Santa Claus - better known as Santa Claus in Latin America - is an "essential" worker.
He did so thinking more than anything about preventing children from anxiously waiting for him without being able to maintain a physical distance of two meters from the rest of their families.
The reasoning is clear, any prevention method works.
The perception on the surface is that the year 2020 will last until the cure against the coronavirus is found or a significant part of the world population is vaccinated and immunized.
In the meantime, let's toast the distance, until we can melt back into warm hugs.