It is now 2022, so I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the “Resolutions for our World” that I published on January 3, 2021. I said the following at the beginning of those resolutions: “Many of us make New Year’s resolutions, and most of us break them in the first few hours, if not minutes, of January. Even realizing this sad situation, we still persist in making them. Perhaps that indomitable wish for improvement in our lives should receive more recognition. It might turn more resolutions into actions. Perhaps we should also make Resolutions for our World as well. I’ve been trying to formulate some of these basic Resolutions for our World. Arrogant, perhaps, futile, maybe, worthwhile, definitely. The scope is so enormous that I think the only sensible way to address the task is with an enormous dollop of caustic humor. So here goes, in no particular order……apart from number 1!”
I think all of those words still hold true as do the 2021 resolutions that followed. Those resolutions are below, with my update commentary and a few more to add to our task in 2022.
RESOLUTIONS FOR OUR WORLD 2021:
1. Remove Donald Trump from the U.S. Presidency. Can you even begin to imagine the positive opportunities that will open up? ACHIEVED, AND LET’S HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY IN THE FUTURE.
2. The United Kingdom should re-join the European Union. Hopefully that will also get rid of the U.K.’s resident clown and con-artist, Boris. NOT ACHIEVED…YET, BUT BORIS APPEARS TO BE ENGINEERING HIS OWN DEMISE BETTER THAN WE COULD.
3. Vladimir Putin should be told by the Western allies that if he puts one more foot anywhere near the borders of any more sovereign nations, the collective wrath of Western unity will descend on his head. Putin is KGB, and always has been, despite buying nice suits in Saville Row in London. He should be treated like the dictator, murderer and false communist he is. (His personal net worth of $70-$200 billion should be confiscated). THIS SITUATION IS COMING TO A DANGEROUS HEAD IN JANUARY 2022.
4. The U.S. should send a carrier task force on a formal visit to Taiwan, making sure they transit the Taiwan Straits before docking in Taipei. This should be accompanied by a formal message to Xi Jinping, which simply says, “Just try it”. THE ROYAL NAVY DID ACTUALLY SEND A DESTROYER THROUGH THE STRAITS OF TAIWAN, MINUS THE SIGN ON THE SIDE AND THE ACTUAL DOCKING IN TAIPEI. THE ROYAL NAVY CARRIER TASK FORCE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY WARSHIPS FROM THE DUTCH NAVY AND U.S. NAVY. (About bloody time!)
5. The U.S. should abolish the Electoral College and, finally, create a presidential election process that is actually democratic. The hypocrisy of the current presidential election system is intolerable, arcane, undemocratic in the extreme, and embarrassing. AN ON-GOING BATTLE WITH LIMITED PROSPECTS FOR MOVEMENT, OR SUCCESS.
6. My pet peeve: The U.S. should federalize all U.S. public education under one National system. This is the only way the U.S. can possibly address the current dream of equal opportunity for all its citizens. In my opinion, the emphasis on trying to eliminate racial discrimination is a futile pipe dream. We are all tribal and always have been. We must face that fact and deal with it. Equal opportunity, however, is possible and ought to be a primary National responsibility. States’ rights be damned. WE SEEM TO BE MOVING BACKWARDS ON THIS AS STATES’ RIGHTS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE NATIONAL POLICIES.
7. The U.S, should set aside its concept of individual rights in this time of the COVID19 pandemic. You will all damn well get vaccinated whether you like it or not. In this case community responsibility overrides individual rights and freedoms. GETTING BETTER BUT WAY TOO SLOWLY. MAYBE WE SHOULD MOVE ALL NON-VACCINATED PEOPLE TO TEXAS. CREATE IT AS A SEPARATE COUNTRY. EXTEND THE CURRENT WALL AROUND THE STATE, AND MAKE TED CRUZ KING.
8. We should combine all efforts to colonize the moon, and beyond, as an Earth priority. We will be hit by a life-destroying meteorite at some point. More likely, in the short term, by a life-destroying political or pandemic calamity. Our species needs somewhere to go! THERE SEEMS TO BE PROGRESS HERE. THERE IS EVEN A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A DIRECT HIT BY AN ERRANT COMET!
9. We should teach history at all levels of our societies. There is a chance that we might learn from it, and, therefore, not be doomed to repeat it. A recent documentary on the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic shows it almost exactly mirrors today’s COVID19 pandemic. We didn’t learn a damn thing from that experience of only a hundred years ago. Think what we might learn if we paid attention to all of human history. FAT CHANCE, BUT WE SHOULD KEEP POUNDING AWAY AT THE IDEA, ALONG WITH A TRAINING COURSE IN ETHICS AND CIVICS FOR ALL POLITICIANS.
ADDITIONAL RESOLUTIONS FOR 2022:
1. Keep pushing on all the 2021 resolutions.
2. Encourage more and more of the world’s private sectors to get practically involved in fighting climate change. It is beginning to happen albeit too slowly. The politicians need to be pushed by private money, which the only political currency they understand.
3. Keep hammering away at the need for a U.S. Constitutional Convention, futile though that effort may be.
4. Encourage, at all levels, the re-establishment of the U.S. as the world’s policeman. If the U.S. doesn’t step up and do this, China might assume the role, and democracy would be doomed.
IT IS NOW 2022. TIME TO STEP UP.
