As I look forward into the new year, I am struck by two dominant thoughts. First, I am both excited and terrified by what the coming year will bring (mostly in the realm of US politics), and second, I honestly never expected to live this long and I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do.
The first set of thoughts, that 2025 and the next few years afterward will be a roller coaster ride of epic proportions, is not unique to me, I am sure. The second set of thoughts, however, will likely come as a surprise to many. Allow me to explain.
I was born in the 1960s, a time of social change, technological advancement, conflict, and hope. The Cold War still raged, typically acted out via proxy conflicts like the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Decolonization efforts in African and Asian nations saw some significant results with countries like Algeria (1962) and Kenya (1963) gaining their independence after prolonged struggles. In the United States, the Civil Rights Movement challenged racial segregation and discrimination. And the original cartoon series The Jetsons ran from September 1962 to March 1963, with 24 episodes of robot housemaids and air cars.
Back then, kids like me still played on our neighborhood streets and knew all the dogs in the area. Latchkey kids like me became more common as more women entered the workforce and “traditional” homes became dual-income entities. The internet and its near-instant dispersal of noise, spam, and occasional nuggets of actual news was decades away. Much of American culture was still innocent, naïve even, compared to what kids are exposed to these days.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
That’s the problem with having lived a while, you begin to see past the hype and schmaltz pushed on TV and social media and see that life is about cycles, and that, while some times in history are definitely better than others, no time is ever perfect. That’s the lie that the media and conservative religions promote, that there was a time that was perfect, and if you do this, that, or the other thing, we can get back to those perfect, halcyon days of yore. Riiiight……
But I digress…
I honestly never expected to be around in the year 2025, and it’s messing with me. Partly, it’s because my inner sense of self still thinks of 2025 as “the future.” Another reason is that, from my earliest memories, there have been so many threats, real and existential, that I expected would kill me or destroy the world long before now. Remember, I grew up in the days when global nuclear destruction was on everyone’s mind, and air raid drills involved having kids like me duck and cover under our desks monthly, or sometimes weekly. My parents and I had good reason to believe that the end was near, and would manifest as glowing mushroom clouds around the globe, and while the threat of imminent nuclear attack began to decline somewhat after the Cuban Millis Crisis in 1962, it was still very much on everyone’s mind during my early, and formative, childhood years.
So now what do I do?
- We may have self-driving cars, but they are neither reliable nor common, and none of them fly.
- We have robot vacuums, but they are single-task devices. Multi-functional devices with personalities like Rosie the Maid are still very much science fiction.
- And the threat of nuclear destruction is still there, although it seldom makes the news or other headlines these days.
To be sure, these are interesting times, in both the best and worst sense. We are currently in a third period of time when the US is being governed primarily in the interest of the monied elite. Previous instances were the so-called Gilded Age (1870s–1900s), dominated by the influence of powerful industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan, and The Roaring Twenties of last century. Neither time period ended well, FYI.
We are also in a time of conflict, change, and innovation, which is likely to introduce still more change and conflict here and around the world. Digital analysis systems will continue to evolve and be integrated into everyday devices, from toasters to televisions to tow trucks, and the latest batch of corporate money-barons will find innovative and merciless ways to take advantage of these technologies to increase their profits, regardless of the misery those actions cause.
“Reality TV-style” political shenanigans will resume as President-elect Trump takes office again. (You did notice that he wants to appoint a bunch of Fox “News” pundits to key government positions, right?) One difference this time around is that there appear to be more people who aren’t willing to put up with his most wacko commands. I do expect that the revolving door in and out of White House positions will be in full force again. Likewise, I expect that there will be multiple organized attempts to revise Federal laws to allow Trump to remain in office in perpetuity. Hopefully, those efforts will fail. I know that some of the framers of American democracy supported a lifetime appointment for presidents selected by Congress and not elected by the people, but it has been a loooooong time since then, and I don’t think the US is ready to have a new monarchy in place, regardless of what MAGA and other ultra-conservatives endorse.
Beyond that, the only “prediction” I’m willing to put money on is that 2025 will be another rollercoaster ride, and that there will be both wonder and gloom in plenty.
So, with that final thought, I wish for you a good year, whatever your creed, culture, or political slant. I may not have expected to see this year, but now that I’m here, I’m inclined to stick around as long as I can. My youth may be spent, but interesting times generally aren’t all bad.
Happy New Year. ✨