New Year

As 2022 draws to a close, let’s take a moment to reflect on the situation we find ourselves in. I think it’s safe to label this (yet another) turbulent year. It began—believe it or not—with Russia, China, France, the UK, and the United States releasing a joint statement decrying nuclear weapons. “There could be no winners in a nuclear war, it should never be started,” said the Russians 11 months ago. These countries have made it clear, of course, that they’re not remotely interested in denuclearizing, but the statement nevertheless illustrates how much pandemonium was still to be thrust upon us in the calm of last January. Next to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we also went through a monkeypox outbreak. Heatwaves, wildfires, earthquakes, and hurricanes were present as well. America had midterm elections, and the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade. Great Britain had three prime ministers and two monarchs. Germany had a far-right coup plot. Iran saw many of its citizens take to the streets. And with a justified international focus on the Qatar world-cup quagmire, I even forgot the Olympics were held this year. I could continue listing the exhausting events of this year, but I think we’d both prefer a short summation. In the end, we’ll probably remember this year as one to be forgotten. Much like the previous two years, all the misery will combine into our mind’s crucible to form a nebulous sense of contempt for 2022. However, I want to share with you my reasons for optimism: for the first time in a long while, I feel like enough people are sick of it; the financial burdens imposed on us by industrial feudalism; the intolerance towards immigrants; lopsided legal systems that advantage the rich; handicapped health-care systems; and the propaganda campaigns of the fossil fuel industries. I think enough people have had enough, and are starting to accept the need to find solutions to these unsustainable conditions. There is real momentum. But the mere will for social change might not appear as much a comfort to you as it does to me. After all, the reason there is a will to build something better is that people feel hopeless; how do we make the world better when it’s all so hopeless? Here’s how I see it: there is a common misconception about freedom; most people think you can design a perfect democratic system, and it’ll serve us everlasting freedom. But the truth is that maintaining a democracy is hard work. We could build Xanadu, and the only way we could sustain it is by vigilantly upholding the attention and dedication to the ideals and principles of freedom, love, and kindness that served as its catalyst. When looking at the seemingly- insuperable challenges we face today, it’s easy to feel like Sisyphus, of Greek myth—cursed by Hades to push a giant boulder up a mountain for eternity. You can practically visualize the summit, can’t you? But no matter how much you push to reach that mountain top, the goal will remain unreached forever. This, to my mind, seems like a similar misconception to the aforementioned one. We are not Sisyphus, rather, I think, we are Atlas—the Titan condemned by Zeus, rather than being sent to Tartarus after the Battle of the Gods, to hold up the sky forever. That’s our role. For those of us who want people to be free and happy, to live and love at their leisure: liberals and leftists. For us to create and sustain a healthy society build around conviviality and care for others, we need people to hold up the sky to keep it from collapsing. That’s why more people wanting positive social change is good news in itself (because my arms are getting tired). As for the current opulent minority? They think we can succeed too. Never have the current beneficiaries from this system spent so much effort and money to distract people with conservative culture-war nonsense, big-oil wouldn’t spend this much money opposing climate legislation if they thought things were hopeless. The radicalization of Fox News, from a right- wing news outlet to a full-on MAGA propaganda machine, reveals Rupert Murdoch’s analysis of the progressive left is far more favorable than how we view ourselves. So as we brace ourselves for whatever 2023 might hold for us, take a moment to breathe and relax, together we can keep the sky from falling. And, although I feel wishing for a more tranquil new year would probably leave me disappointed, I hope, nevertheless, that 2023 brings us some more inner peace. I wish you an auspicious and happy new year!