On a personal note,i found out i really like less social stuff than I thought I did, and how much more money that gives me!
I look forward to dating & traveling in my RV again (ideally combining the 2!)
I hope deeply to be able to go back to giving politics casual attention.....

I think that 2020 will be looked back upon as the softening up period for the erosion of our civil liberties and just the beginning of the polarization between haves and have nots, not just for individual citizens but for countries and regions around the world. Trillions of dollars have been made by a few and trillions spent by the majority through government spending bills, eventually someone is going to have to pay the bill and it won't be the rich who do it. Expecting that the rich are going to pay for government debts run up to fight the virus is like expecting that the Mexican people are going to pay for Trumps Border Wall, the Rich don't protect the Poor, they eat them.
The vaccine roll out is going to take a lot longer than advertised, not just in rich countries that can afford it but in poor countries that cannot afford the vaccine (s). I expect that there will be several vaccines as viruses mutate and that will require an ongoing, multi-year approach - trillion$ will be made on this and billions of people around the world will not be able to afford to keep up with the vaccine regimen so millions of poor people will die as a result because they could not afford to live. It will also be cheaper to impose more restrictions on people than to make sure that there is always a new and effective vaccine distributed in a timely manner, Bill Gates and the like are not concerned about achieving 100% market penetration, that is never part of the business model.
There is also the impending conflict between China and the West, not so much a hot war but a cold war, not with missile but with currency as China starts to realize the power it has by controlling the supply chain of goods that it makes for the world and stops taking IOU's from the West for its poorly made products. The Rich will cry the loudest because they are all about the money and playing the game but it is the middle and lower classes that are going to feel the pain in daily life.
Interesting times ahead, no globalist cabal taking over the world, just the latest variation on the human tale of haves and have nots.

What surprised me this year was the pandemic and thinking that never in my life I would have thought that we would never go through something like this.
I learned that my family is very important to me and I don't want to be far away from them, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and is going through chemo, it's something to see her going through different effects each day and still pulling through, I feel it changing me, more so her. I'm not the same person I was last year and I'm hoping for a better year in 2021.

I learned that humans continue against all science to be selfish and ignorant. I was surprised how well I managed being isolated for so long. I had some downs but have faired pretty well. I also realized that many of my own family and friends were disappointing in how they responded to the available info and the expectations of safety for themselves and others. I'm somewhat use to being disappointed by strangers by not so much by my own family and friends. I thought they were kinder and more considerate than that.

I am hopeful that 2021 will be much more enjoyable as I will get to spend time with my grandchildren and kids much more this year and do some more traveling. Also, the political climate will improve greatly after 01/20 and I look forward to not having to hear about asshole 45 every day.

I don't like to try to predict the future.

In the immortal words of REO Speedwagon,
you gotta roll with the changes.

P.S. About the Y2K panic. I was well aware how much effort the technology sector was putting into the transition. I was aware how much was invested and I knew a total collapse and shutdown would cost the powers that be so much they would not allow it to happen. The panic ads like this were a real test for what was to come in September 2001. The Y2K scare induced panic buying, stocking up, the nutters feeding the fear. It really showed that the programming models of fox network and AM Talk Radio work and produce results in spades.
I kept trying to tell people nothing is going to happen there will be no global collapse.
The nike ad was stunningly effective and prescient.

I voted pessimistic. I am by nature a realist. Most people think that is being pessimistic and it may simply be that my expression of reality appears pessimistic or it's just a semantics issue. What stuns me about 2020 is just how deep the divide has become led, IMHO by the massive influence the style of programming media outlets like fox and AM talk radio have on ignorant Americans. The facts are literally at our finger tips and they are too lazy, ignorant or just stupid (take your pick) to improve their understanding and knowledge.
The other stunner for me was after 4 years of public display by trump, his supporters in the gop- both elected and the common man - of no respect for the rule of law, lie after lie, the cruelty inflicted on the weak and needy by so called Christians, the blatant hypocrisy and finally pitting states against each other for needed medical supplies during a pandemic close to 49% of my fellow Americans voted to keep him in office AND their elected officials in both houses. FUCK FUCK FUCK is all I can say.

What I hated in 2020 was every single day having something to do with Donald Trump. He brought Reality TV to the WH and the news was all about him every day. I had to stop watching TV news. My optimism about 2021 is that I know this will not be the case with Biden/Harris. This alone is enough to return my sanity.

I learned that there are enough shortsighted, ignorant, bigoted, misogynistic people in this country to keep the Republicans a political force even if tRump leaves.
I expect Biden and us to have a nightmare next 4 years trying to recover from the last 4 years especially working around the landmines tRump and McConnell have installed in the Federal government.

BTW 2020 was not an eventual year -- it's almost over.
I think you probably meant eventful .

It’s in my nature to be optimistic, that doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to the difficulties of economic recovery from this pandemic in 2021 and beyond. I think it will take the best part of next year to get covid 19 under control and will probably be 2022 before we start to feel things are in any way returning to a normal way of life and we feel free to interact closely with others. The economic recovery will take very much longer, and a complete rethink and overhaul of how our economies are structured will have to be examined in the aftermath of what is a hollowing out or complete collapse of many businesses vital to employment and wealth creation.

We in the U.K. also have the uncertainty of no longer being part of the EU and all the concomitant problems and challenges that will bring. However, taking a more global view, the change in administration in the USA should bring about a new more positive attitude towards NATO, Iran and the Climate issue, as President-elect Biden has already indicated to the great relief of allies and friends of the USA.

What have I learned in 2020? That the world we live in has no real national borders when it comes to viruses, well of course I already knew that, but the covid pandemic brought that home like nothing else could. That we are a very small planet and by co-operating and pooling our scientific knowledge we can find solutions to imminent lethal diseases by managing to develop, test, and manufacture not one effective vaccine, but a number of them...and in an amazingly short time. On a more personal level, many of us who were considered more vulnerable, discovered how kind younger friends and neighbours, and even strangers could be with offers of food and other essential shopping delivered to our doors. My conclusion is that we humans are a resilient and innovative species and we are at our best when we pull together in co-operation for the common good.

It did sadden me that our close friends in the USA had such a year of extreme polarisation in the lead up to the November Presidential election and I was rooting like mad for Joe Biden to win, because from my perspective here in the U.K. it appeared that Donald Trump had had a corrosive effect on American society, capitalising on, and increasing division. I believed another four years of a Trump administration would be completely disastrous for the social fabric of America, and something that may not have been recoverable from. I am optimistic that given time and a Democratic administration that reaches out to Trump voters and tries to find common ground somehow, the country can be brought back together and the divisions healed. Better times are certainly ahead for the USA...and therefore the world.

Lessons learned:

In the worst of times, people can be creative, witty and helpful to those who need it.

There are ''loopholes'' in our government which allow evil to slip in and those loopholes need plugging!

There's far more racism and class-hatred in this country than many of us realized.

We MUST implement civics education in our schools.

It's time to replace the electoral college with a system of direct voting.

Internet communities can connect us to like-minded friends around the world.

I learned in 2020 that retrumplicans are scumbags and at this point beyond redemption

America is getting progressively dumber

The fallout from the tRumpster fire will continue to damage our society. Social, racial, environmental, economic, a distortion (dismantling) of law and order, the erosion of science by tRumptard religious rights. Will take a miracle to fix this mess. I don't believe in miracles.

Remember, next year is pronounced,
"2020 Won"

A Salon commentary: [salon.com]

From the link:

2020 being a bad year is a cliche at this point — but let's remember all of the ways Donald Trump made it worse

I relearnt the utmost importance of health. No one can take his or her health for granted

I expect that individual rights and freedoms will continue to be eroded as those in power promote the "Great Reset" (New World Order).

The events of 2020 seemed to hit me on the head like a ton of bricks, making me disoriented at first, and then forcing me to think differently about how to get through it with the best possible outcome. A lot of the habits and mindset I developed during the past year will suit me well through the new year.

I learned, once again, I hate Republicans. Also, as a corollary, some people are easily brainwashed and act contrary to their best interests in a bewildering number of ways.
On the other hand, several crises, I predict, will begin to demand urgent, immediate attention and ACTION, making their deniers look like fools.
This will result in many constructive solutions. Maybe not all of them bearing fruit in 2021, but at the very least seeds will be sown.
But I always say things like that.

I learned is there are over 74 million people in this country who are really stupid,really greedy, bad, or any and all of the above. I also learned some people were not who I thought they were both good and bad, mostly bad, and the bad have been eliminated from my life. As for 2021, I have no idea. Who could have predicted 2020?

I think the president has wasted time fighting the election. He lost! It happens. After transfer of power, things well calm down. In spite of what Biden says, I think he's a one term guy, he'll be 81 2024. He may not be able to get most of his agenda through the Senate, but he will do a good job on distributing vaccines. He'll concentrate on that for sure. We will see the end of Covid in 2021 and the economy will make a comeback. People are chomping at the bit. More people will die but it will end. We're at 340K dead. Yes I believe these figures, it may even be low. It will get better soon though. Six months.

I did a post on this, the number one thing I learned this year was that fascist don’t know any political definitions including fascism.
Socialism is just a synonym for Communism and “bad” again knowing the definition the way first graders understand compound interest.
Other things stand out as well, like..,
Corporate Democrats are just Republican moderates and the only group with plans to get their foot off the breaks and on the gas for quality of life improvements for everyone policy wise are the Progressives.

More of the same. Sorry to say it, but hope is just an illusion in the minds of the naive and gullible.

Anything could be better than 2020 and a couple of things (use your imagination) could make it a banner year.