Stop blaming '2016'

[canetoad]

So many posts bemoan 2016 as an awful year. There's a logical reason for it; the oldest boomers turn 70 this year. Three-score-and-ten. There will be more next year and the year after.

Pull yourselves together, enjoy what you have an accept that people die.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/there-are-more-celebrities-dying-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse-20161229-gtjgxj.html
There are more celebrities dying. And it's only going to get worse

We talk of 2016 as a particularly awful year. It's as though a temporal supervillain is stalking our most beloved celebrities. Artist Chris Barker has been compiling images of this year's losses into a 2016 remix of the Sgt Pepper's cover – he's now run out of room.

As George RR Martin – whose own demise is widely feared by fantasy aficionados – wrote this week , "Death, death, and more death … please, let this wretched year come to an end."

Of course, it's not as simple as the calendar ticking over. The BBC tested the perception that 2016 has seen an unusual outbreak of celebrity deaths by counting the obituaries it has published. The first four months were an outlier, but overall there had been a consistent increase since 2012. So there were more this year – but the years ahead should be worse still.

BBC obituaries editor Nick Serpill says this is because "we're now half a century on from the flourishing of both TV and pop culture in the 1960s, which massively expanded the overall pool of public figures." It makes sense, especially factoring in the post-war population bubble. And in most cases, it's Baby Boomers whom we've been mourning.

[cwydro]

1. Good article.

I've been amazed and even puzzled by all the threads here hating 2016. Like it's some living thing.

Yes, people died this year. People also got married, had babies, and did all manner of good things.

Just like last year. Just like next year.

[True Dough]

2. Did you catch this one?

This man set up a GoFundMe page to protect Betty White from 2016

https://www.yahoo.com/news/this-man-set-up-a-gofundme-page-to-protect-betty-white-from-2016-222911872.html





She is a national treasure!

[canetoad]

3. OMG yes I did

And for a moment thought he was on the level.

Turns out he is raising money for a small theatre group, but great way to do so and I hope he does well.

[Skittles]

4. TRUMP was the worst thing about 2016

grieving for icons is especially difficult while mourning our COUNTRY

[A-Schwarzenegger]

5. you said it, Skittles

DING!

[Raine]

6. Interesting ... makes sense nt

[raccoon]

7. Thanks for posting! My sentiments exactly.

Nowadays in our media-saturated society, we're going to hear of every person who dies who ever had any degree of fame--a bit part on a TV show, played with a famous rock band for a brief time, etc. Better get used to it.

[Blue_Adept]

8. Or, you know, let people express their grief

And be less judgmental about it.