January 02, 2017

Old Year's Resolutions

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Hello folks, welcome to 2017, blood relative of 2016, and young, frantic and ambitious, it's looking to make its mark on the world.

This year however, things have to be different. Last year, people in industrialised nations succumbed to a cheap, flimsy narrative of the year being the worst ever. The main problem with this idea is that it snatches agency away from people, and turns them into victims of blind, ruthless fate. Well, I don't know about you, but I had to spend hours reading Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles and all those other old boys back in school, so it's been clear to me and many other people throughout the ages, that this was the case anyway. However, being defenceless against fate doesn't mean that:

a) Life is pointless.

or

b) You can't do anything.

2016 was bad, for sure. It saw the rise of reactionary nationalism and the failure of left-leaning liberalism - however, to moan on and on about the relentlessness of the year, and to lament that this year will be no different is a form of passive defeatism that neither I nor you should indulge.

In other words, 2017 doesn't have to be like last year - you can do something about it.

Here's what I will be doing more of this year:

1. Engaging more in my local community: Politics begins at home, and taking more steps towards local political action can have small but meaningful impacts for the area.
2. Recycling more, using less, eating less meat: Yup, the environment, look after that sucker.
3. Challenging hate more: Listen up people, I'm not scared of hate, right-wing anything or the radicalisation of youth, whether Nazi or Islamist or whatever, and neither should you be. You have nothing to fear but fear itself - so stand up to hate with more love, more kindness, and more bravery.
4. Talk about victims more: ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Istanbul which left dozens dead. But we've heard enough about ISIS and who they are and what they want. What about the people who suffered? An international, multicultural suffering, with victims from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Tunisia, India, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria and Russia. See, when you just talk about the perpetrators, this becomes an East vs West thing - this is a World vs Hate thing.
5. Reflect more: 2016 was the year of the bubble, apparently. So I will spend more time thinking about what I actually believe and why, incorporating other views in as much as possible.
6. Pay more: Pay for journalism, pay for news, pay for information, donate to charity, aid and political parties - writing and talking doesn't get you everywhere.

These don't seem like massive changes - for sure, a single person making them won't change the world. But at least it shows that the 2016-narrative was a flimsy one which we can do away with. This is a new year, and we can renew our engagements and commitments with some fresh perspective. Now, get out there, be fearless and thrive.