Here we are at the end of January and
I'm wondering what's the point of wishing everyone "Happy New Year"
when it is blatantly obvious that it is as pointless as wasting millions on
lavish celebratory fireworks and fizzy booze. By the end of the first month or
sooner than that, it is a case of same shit, different year.
Politicians continue to bitch, people
get killed and injured, public services get worse, the world gets angrier and
meaner, headlines are hogged by bad news, scare stories get scarier, warnings
get gloomier, the abyss of eternal damnation gets closer, humans become more
inhumane, social media becomes more anti-social, gossip, rumour, innuendo and
insult become more poisonous, and on and on and on.
But.......
there is a point to wishing everyone
"Happy New Year" because it is a symbol of hope and if we lose our
belief in hope, well, it's hopeless. And those in power, people of influence,
the ones deciding our fate want us to feel hopeless, lost, fearful and
distraught because they can then shape our lives, change our behaviour and
control us any way they like.
All over the world, there are millions
of law-abiding, decent, honest, loving, sincere people doing wonderful things,
raising families, looking out for neighbours, being faithful friends,
supporting their choices of charities and simply getting on with living as good
a life as they possibly can for themselves and others. They are not interested
in causing trouble or being selfish or uncaring or being drawn into the network
of gadgetry, this relentless tsunami of balderdash and crap that pours out of
TV, radio, Twitter, Facebook et al every second of every minute of every
hour of every day. It is unstoppable. Sadly, even all the good things that
appear on all of the media outlets are swamped by enormous surges of mischief
and menace. But the good things are still there and still good.
Hope can never be killed off. Dreamers
can and should still dream. Some dreams are impossible but not all of
them.
I am reminded of the film Network and
the character Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch) when he urges people to stop
being complacent, to open their windows and shout: "I'M AS MAD AS
HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
I am also reminded of this quotation:
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
It can still be a happy new year despite all
the people intent on wrecking it. Here's hoping.
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