Politics in 2021: How to describe the year in one sentence?

Last year, we didn’t think it could get any worse … Surprise! As 2021 draws to a close, we asked our pantheon of politics watchers to describe the world this year in one sentence.

Read more from our political year in review here.

The world seems far away.

Gabrielle Baker

Groaning at the seams.

Alex Braae

Increasingly angry, intolerant and hotter than 2020.

Linda Clark

<sips his coffee> “This is fine.”

Andrew Geddis

No energy, not even for sourdough. 

Lara Greaves

*Yelled in an aggressive Italian accent*: Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.

(Please see this viral meme for the reference.)

Leonie Hayden

I always wondered what it was like to live through the 1970s with inflation, military defeats and a general sense of malaise – and now I know.

Liam Hehir

Polarised.

Annabelle Lee-Mather

The Hangover Part VI.

Toby Manhire

I used an online neural network text predictor to finish this sentence describing the world in 2021 and it said: “I am not going to live to see the world in 2022.”

So lots to look forward to there. 

Danyl Mclachlan

The world became a more unpredictable place in 2021, having failed to learn the lessons of 2020 (providing Covid-19 vaccinations to the world protects everyone) and the lessons of the past 30 years (an economic model based on increasing inequality doesn’t work).

Craig Renney

Upside down and disconnected AF. 

Brooke Stanley Pao

Broken yet fixable.

Shane Te Pou