A Dose Of New Year Realism

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, guns, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

Well, my friends, we’ve closed the book on yet another year.  I rarely struggle to find words, but frankly I find that I struggle today to find words for a New Year’s post.  A New Year’s post should be … uplifting, positive, and carry a message of hope for the coming year (and beyond), but as I look at the state of the world today, I cannot help but wonder what this human species has evolved into.  While I really hate to rain on the parade of optimism many feel on this, the first day of a new year, it is equally important that we open our eyes and see reality as it is today, for failure to do so will dash those hopes for the future.

Here are just a few of the things that keep me from feeling positive for the coming year …

Climate change continues to escalate and despite the dire warnings of the climate scientists, the U.S. extracted more fossil fuels (oil & gas) in 2023 than in any previous year.  As proof that the climate scientists are right, 2023 was the hottest year on record.  Apparently, humans don’t care about protecting Planet Earth, the only planet that can support human life.  I’m not a scientist, but I predict that unless people wake up and make dramatic changes right now, the human species will be mostly extinct by the end of this century, and sadly will have taken many other species down with them.

Two major wars are happening around the globe that have the potential to ultimately involve many more countries, and meanwhile, innocent people are dying by the hundreds in both Ukraine and Gaza … every day!  There is no end in sight, for Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu have no conscience, care not one whit about the people they are having killed, but care only for their own power.  It seems that the rest of the world is losing interest … support was once strong for Ukraine among many western nations, but that support is waning, leaving Ukraine to fend for itself against a much bigger, more powerful nation.

Global hunger and food scarcity is on the rise, largely due to the two aforementioned grievances:  climate change and wars.  Other factors play a role as well, but those are the two biggest factors.  The major areas of rising hunger, food scarcity and malnutrition are numerous areas on the African continent, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.  How many in the western world even give it a second thought … if it’s not right in their backyard or in their face, they can happily ignore it.  Meanwhile, we in the western world are grousing over the price of eggs.

Violence seems to be increasingly the way people choose to resolve their problems.  Don’t like what your politician said?  Send him an email threatening to kill him and/or his family.  Much of this has come about since 2017 when the Oval Office was occupied by a ‘man’ who incited violence as the answer to his every displeasure.  I thought, though, that we in this nation were better than this, were above listening to the calls for violence by someone who knows no other way, who hasn’t the ability to make a reasoned argument or have a civil discussion.  I guess I was wrong.

Wealth inequality, a rise in racism and other forms of bigotry, the deterioration of our public school education, the push to rob women of their hard-won rights, the many ways in which the right to vote is being threatened, the gun culture and Congress’ refusal to address it, the potential for using AI for ill rather than good … all are areas where I don’t see progress being made, where I do see us going from bad to worse.  So, while I do wish everyone a “Happy New Year”, somehow the words feel very hollow this time ‘round.  I hope … I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong and that a year from now, sanity has returned and the optimists among you will say, “See, I told you it would all be okay.”

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62 thoughts on “A Dose Of New Year Realism”

  1. Pingback: Wodin’sday Wail … | Homeless on the High Desert

  2. It’ll be interesting to see what we are all saying in a few months when trump gets more and more delays and if his and the republican’s Supreme Court rules he has total immunity…

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, it will be interesting. I suspect frustration will be our keyword this year. I don’t, however, look for the Supreme Court to rule that he has total immunity. Yes, the Court has become extremely compromised and is no longer trustworthy, but I still think they would stop short of that. But then … what do I know?

      Liked by 2 people

  3. With everything that’s happened this, past year, it becomes, way too, difficult to, believe that, better things are, yet to come, especially with the wars, about to happen, on the, horizons, the wars that are already , ongoing, the world just, doesn’t, look, that, good at all, but we still, try our best, to, see the small good things, in our, immediate, environments that will, hopefully, pull us all, through…

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. This won’t improve your mood, but there more than two major wars going on at the moment, and Gaza is – as per Wikipedia – not even considered a major war. In Myanmar four times as many people have been killed so far since 1948. Sudan has just started, and there are more. The whole planet is a madhouse at the moment.

    Liked by 3 people

    • You’re right … I was aware of Myanmar, but I think it flies under the radar since it is older than I am. Still, yes, it is a very big issue, as is Sudan … and others. You’re right … the whole planet is a madhouse and … there is so very little that any of us can actually DO. I stomp my foot … I WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! But, apart from my words, my hands are tied.

      Liked by 3 people

      • The Gaza “conflict” is considered to have started in 1948 as well, same as Myanmar. Right after the war, when Europe saw a chance to shove all their Jews into a nation of their own. Too bad that a few millions Palestinians were living there … what did the Europeans care about that.

        Liked by 1 person

        • History is a bit more complicated than that. There weren’t enough European Jews left to fill Palestine. You might want to look into where the former Arab Empire states forced their Christians and Jewish residents to migrate to. It is a convenient fiction that “outsiders” are the case of the problem. How come Bibi Netanyahu born in Tel Aviv is a Jew and not a Palestinian? This is a big problem for we of the Irish Diaspora, always jumping in before determining if it is a public or private fight. 😉

          Liked by 3 people

            • A remnant of the Age of Discovery perhaps. Reptilian remnant of the European adventurers going forth and finding new empty lands. Empty of anyone important in their minds . Perfect for Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B’s cargo of the telephone sanitisers, account executives, hairdressers, tired TV producers, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, public relations executives, and management consultants. 🫤

              Liked by 2 people

    • You’re definitely right about that, Fandango, but there is still a bit of difference. A pessimist gives up and accepts that what is, is. A realist sees it as it is, but still keeps trying to make it better! Happy New Year, my friend … let’s keep trying to “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Ghandi

      Liked by 3 people

      • The rest of the story. Or what came before. One foot in front of the other. A leader does not look to see who follows.
        “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
        ― Mahatma Gandhi

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Jill, I share your pessimism. Should Trump become Pres again, democracy is dead….unless Dems win control of both houses of Congress and can limit Trump’s damage (which would still be considerable, perhaps especially on the world stage as it relates to cozying up to dictators, dragging down relations with allies, and endangering America’s military preparedness).

    Liked by 3 people

    • Yes, I think we are rapidly approaching our “either/or moment”. The way it stand right now, I don’t have much confidence, but … I do still have some hope that enough people will “wake up and smell the coffee” before November, especially if we all do everything in our power to present the facts that cancel out the falsehoods they have fallen for. My other big concern is voting rights, which I’ll be addressing here soon.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. Pingback: A Dose Of New Year Realism | Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  12. Jill, quoting one of my favorite singers, “we didn’t start the fire.” Bad news has always existed, but we now have social media and bifurcated pseudo news sources. One of our major news outlets has admitted in court in its own internal emails something those who pay attention have known for some time – they know better, but gaslight their viewers. So, one piece of good news is said network has settled two of its five defamation court cases for $1.1 billion. Shareholders have more to fork over in 2024.

    Speaking of news, one thing that will make our lives better is to stop listening to or reading any person who uses name calling, labelling or hate speech to communicate messages. That is not civil discourse and has earned the right to be ignored. Plus free speech does not mean you can incite violence on public servants who in the course of doing their job are critical of you. That is criminal behavior even if you have money.

    We do have real problems – many you mentioned, but others as well – but we need serious people armed with facts to solve them. If a politician can’t do that, there is the door. And, that includes those who have the biggest audience. Populists are not known for their truth telling – never have been. They are just better at getting away with lying than others. A colleague of Senator Joe McCarthy said he made stuff up all the time.

    So, read multiple news sources that print erratas when they get it wrong and don’t waste your time from name calling, labelling and hate mongering folks.

    Keith

    Liked by 3 people

    • While I think the internet has brought us many really good things, there is also undoubtedly a downside, and that is that lies, calls for violence, and other undesirable things spread much faster than ever before. And yes, ‘faux news’ outlets, while they have always been around, seem to have become much more accessible and ‘mainstream’. And while yes, Fox has paid the price for their perfidy, they are STILL out there telling more lies to the gullible public. Sigh.

      In theory, I agree that we would be wise to stop listening to those who use name-calling, labeling, and hate speech to communicate, we also cannot afford to completely ignore the likes of Donald Trump and his cronies, for to do so would be a tragic mistake, I think. Doesn’t mean we agree with anything he says, but we do need to be aware of what he says he plans to do. And I agree about the free speech issue … in fact, I just finished writing my a.m. post on that very topic!

      We cannot stop the lies that are being told, but I think it is the duty of us all to point out the lies, to rebut them with actual facts, to do everything in our power to educate the people of this country. That may or may not be enough, but … we will give it our best shot this year.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. This is a comment I left on another blog just a few hours ago. I think indirdctly it talks to the gist of this post. I have more to say, but I will start with thix for now.

    Challenging yourself is always a good thing. But nowadays I just challenge myself to make it through a day without assassinating some useless keader somewhere. Not that I ever would or could — I don’t believe in violence after all. But I’m starting to think that a bit of violence to stop mass violhence from happening might be a good thing. This world has been “mostly” peaceful for a long time, mostly being a relative term, but lately the mass violence is spreading. Too many leaders think they have good reasons to blow other people up, and no one does anything to stop them. Like the League of Nations failed to contain Hitler and his buddies, the United Nations is now failing to stop anyone who wants to start a war. And too many nations are building arsenals of nuclear weapons. Climate change might not be the end of life as we know it. A Third World War would be a lot faster!
    Sorry for the rant, but you hit a “raw” berve today.

    Liked by 4 people

    • The problem with that “bit of violence to stop mass violence from happening” is that the “bit of violence” would almost certainly lead to even MORE violence. Imagine, for example, if someone actually managed to assassinate Donald Trump … can you even imagine how his loyal lap-dog followers would respond??? We would have bloodshed in the streets for sure!

      The United Nations’ power is limited and there is no way they can intervene with those wannabe dictators we are seeing crop up all over the world. Sigh. It is, I think, up to “We the People” to try to talk some sense into the radicals, but … I don’t hold out much hope for that, either.

      No worries about the rant … I’ve been on the brink of one myself, but trying to keep it restrained!

      Liked by 1 person

      • I haven’t got to that point where I get violent, but some days it’s nice to think of doing it.
        Yes, the MAGAts would rise up if their God was assassinated, but they would quiet down soon after. It’s okay if they are harming others — but they turn tail when they start getting harmed. And they would get harmed. They’re not smart enough to protect themselves.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. I wish I didn’t agree with everything you say. I wish it with all my might. Accepting the reality that this is the way the world has worked throughout history is not fun. Money, greed, power, ‘us’ vs ‘them’. We need many, many grassroots movements making it clear that this pattern is UNACCEPTABLE. Let’s Joe that 2024 turns the tide.

    Liked by 3 people

  16. Hard to be enthusiastic about a new year given the doom and gloom surrounding us, I agree.
    I will take my comfort in the small things.
    My dog’s tail wagging when he sees me or hears my voice.
    A Robin perched on the rim of a bucket.
    New leaves on our 300 year-old Oak Tree.
    Blue Tits nest building in the bird-box.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

    Liked by 5 people

  17. I believe that being realistic is a natural way for me to live and deal with situations. Until I was 22 I was very deluded, dreamy, very naive. Then I had to learn on my own skin many things that I didn’t yet know. It was challenging and very tough. Now I’m a realist and I see certain mechanisms that happen in the right way.

    Liked by 3 people

  18. I’d like my optimism to be right for once. Putin and Netayahu gone, Ukraine a free Demoracy and Trump in prison along with the other traitors to your country. I hope sense reigns at the 2024 elections. Hugs

    Liked by 5 people

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