“You get a new year, you get a new start, you get a new opportunity”—Billy Butler
Whenever a new year dawns, pessimism takes a back seat and hopes run high for the entire world to transform into a better place for its inhabitants. In the present scenario with international events like the Ukraine War, Israeli-Hamas conflict, African civil wars; and on the domestic front, unrest in Balochistan, severe economic crisis and the overall political vacuum, have apparently shredded the fabric of humanity. It appears that nature is continuously using a sledge hammer to wake up the human consciousness that has fallen in a deep state of coma. Whether it is apathy, helplessness or sheer callousness, one can hardly ignore the prevailing circumstances that are fast propelling the globe towards self-destruction.
The fact of the matter is that a handful and a negligible proportion compared to the world population of more than 8 billion, has decided to take everyone’s destiny in its hands. After all, who declares war? Ask anyone on the street. No sensible person would be willing to take on a fight with another, let alone jeopardize lives and properties of millions. Who gave that heartless person or group of merciless persons (especially men) the mandate to destroy, kill and hurt not just one, but generations upon generations in the name of ideologies, ethnic cleansing, racial discrimination and gaining control over natural resources anywhere on the earth? I did not, nor did my relatives, nor all those who have suffered, are suffering and continue to suffer from all kinds of atrocities unleashed on them by selfish so-called saviours of this earth.
Data gathered from all around sketches the picture of some people who are holding the strings of billions of puppets in their hands and pulling them in a way that seems to onlookers as if they are acting on their own accord. We, the people of this world are being pulled, pushed and manipulated to think that we are reaping the harvest of what we have sown, whereas the reality is that we are condemned to clean the crap that is continuously being shoved on us by the few, who are constantly engaged in unethical, unprincipled, immoral and inhuman acts, irrespective of their claims, making this world a miserable place. They are oblivious to the idea that their few years of ruling the roost pushes the humanity to centuries of predicaments too dense to be cleared in a short time.
According to the United Nations (UN) there are 195 recognized countries in the world. 193 of these are member states of the UN, while two countries - Vatican City and the State of Palestine are non-member observer states. The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) lists a different number of countries at a total of 237. Now if there are on an average 100 decision makers in each country, their percentage in terms of total world population comes to the fourth place of decimal (0.0002%) which is absolutely negligible. Whatever reasons this extreme minority might place before the overwhelming majority, these still do not justify their destructive actions nor do they explain the high level of imbalances in terms of sharing natural resources and distribution of wealth where a few nations are suffering from the Dutch disease, while the wretched of the earth are living far below minimum human standards.
If it comes as a warning or prediction, with the advent of 2024, these self-acclaimed benevolent manipulators would have to check into their hearts and minds because their negative energy is now under the threat of the rapidly growing positive energy, being emanated by the remaining 99.99%. One cannot deny the existence of physical wars going on in some parts of the world, but simultaneously one can also not overlook the rise of a spiritual war (in a good sense) that is fast connecting individual to individual, establishing a one on one relationship. This does not mean that people are becoming hermits, rather they are awakening to a better sense of awareness and power they possess. So, if someone is affected in say Australia, someone sitting in Africa is bound to raise an alarm alerting the world. Check out the innumerable petitions that people sign in support of atrocities committed on their brethren. These are unifying forces that are picking up strength at a fast pace.
Covid-19 helped to raise consciousness and also tear off the artificial masks that were meticulously carved out by brands and artificially engineered status perception. There was a realization that we are all equal no matter which region we came from. The new generation is gradually discarding the traditional and false reality of caste and creed, turning towards appreciating the beauty of attributes that humans are actually adorned with. The present phase of darkness that has dominated the earth will unquestionably persist for some time but the dawn of enlightenment will definitely break through as it has done historically. Every century has had its share of troubles and charms and twenty first is no exception. Rather it started off on a distressing note with the occurrence of 9/11 in the very first year just when everything seemed running at a smooth level.
Again, on the economic front, the first decade witnessed global economic meltdown resembling the 1930s depression in the past century. Nonetheless, the world emerged from it with flying colours. Today, there is an abundance of everything imaginable, although a large segment of the world is still living in deprivation but that is mostly on account of injustices on the part of 0.0002% that insists on etching artificial barriers between the people of this fascinating planet. With unprecedented technological advancements, these divisions are becoming blurry and the real faces of culprits along with their sinister intentions are getting exposed. The realization today is that this handful has alienated the world populace causing disconnections but the wonderful progress achieved during the last few decades is actually joining the dispersed dots to paint the emerging picture of a single humanity.
In the immediate future, we may suffer natural and man-made calamities, but hopefully by 2026 this world is going to be a much better haven for its inhabitants. As our expectations run high we should both individually and collectively continue to spread goodwill, love and hope across borders to construct a united human front against all sorts of institutionalized attempts to create rifts between us.