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Tuesday 31 January 2017

WHAT'S THE POINT OF WISHING EVERYONE "HAPPY NEW YEAR"?


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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