Columnist Lise Hand argued in The Journal that the decade from 2016 to 2026 was defined by catastrophe from its opening days, when David Bowie died and Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency.
The column, also published by europesays.com, identifies January 10, 2016 — the date of Bowie’s death — as the moment the “Decade of Doom” began. Hand writes that Trump’s 2016 election and his return to the White House in 2024 sealed the period’s fate.
2016 Marked by Deaths, Brexit and Trump
Hand notes that Bowie’s death was followed that year by the loss of Muhammad Ali, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Carrie Fisher and George Michael, according to The Journal. The column quotes actor Gary Oldman saying in 2025: “Don’t you feel that since he died, the world’s gone to shit? It was like he was cosmic glue or something.”
The year also brought Brexit and subsequent political turmoil in Britain, including seven prime ministers at 10 Downing Street, The Journal reported. Trump’s 2016 victory was followed by the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot after his 2020 loss and his 2024 return to office, the column states.
Crises from Terror to Pandemic to War
Hand catalogs a series of violent events across the decade, The Journal reported: terrorist attacks in Nice, Brussels, Manchester and Bondi Beach; mass shootings in Las Vegas, Orlando and U.S. schools; the Christchurch mosque killings; and the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed at least seven million people.
The column cites Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, and a U.S.-Israel war with Iran launched in February that drove up fuel prices and sparked a global cost-of-living crisis, according to The Journal.
Recent elections spark cautious optimism
Despite the grim ledger, Hand points to recent developments as possible turning points, The Journal reported. She cites what she calls the “stunning outcome” of the U.S. midterms, along with democratic victories in Brazil and Serbia, as offering “a glimmer of redemption.”
Quoting the lament that ‘Trust, a mighty god has gone,’ Hand writes that there is good stuff to celebrate in life.
Questions About the Decade of Doom
Why does Hand single out Bowie’s death?
She points to Gary Oldman’s 2025 remark that the world seemed to deteriorate after Bowie died, as if the musician had been “cosmic glue” holding things together, The Journal reported.
Which wars does the column cite?
Hand identifies Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza following the October 2023 attacks, and a U.S.-Israel war with Iran launched in February, according to The Journal.
What gives Hand hope at the decade’s end?
She cites the U.S. midterm results and democratic wins in Brazil and Serbia, quoting Theognis that “Hope is the only good god remaining among mankind,” The Journal reported.
Hand’s column places the 2016-2026 decade in the shadow of earlier catastrophes including the September 11 attacks, the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami and the global financial crisis, which The Journal notes preceded what she calls ten years of one crisis after another.
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