To 2024 and beyond!

So this is Christmas… (John Lennon)

Next week closes off 2023. As usual, a series of bigger bangs, fiery flashes and planet pollutants will mark the new year by scorching skies around the globe.

There’s not a lot you can say for 2023: we’ve seen war, pestilence, misery on a global scale, much of it demonstrating the colossal abuse of power that is seen as normal. Those with the power to do so have found familiar ways to demonstrate its many facets, raining down death on the innocent in pursuit of the guilty; throwing away public money billion by billion, punishing the poor for profligacy.

During the last year, it’s been those with low profile who have made a little difference at local level that have truly impressed me. The local heroes, helping out, going the extra mile and all those cliches – getting involved, getting stuck in, getting hands dirty because someone has to lend a hand.
There are some truly extraordinary community activists, up and down the country and in our town.
There is a positive response to the negative realisation that it’s pointless waiting for someone else to take action. During the last few years, with economic squeeze coming back with a vengeance, all of our public services have been locked into what is almost becoming a death spiral of under-capacity desperately trying to meet hugely increased demand. What’s left is simply our social capital.
Well done to our community champions and public workers. You are as always, miracle workers.

Street Strop: not really road rage

In our local community, the May local elections brought about change, but not much. As always, some were elected with commitment to their community, some by total accident – needing a basic primer in politics – and some with manic moral outrage who do politics because they’re right and you’re wrong.

This year, political Street Strop emerged as a pedestrian version of Road Rage – social media sharing photo opportunities of elected representatives routinely walking their way around the wrong ward, utterly breathless with excitement to discover that the government is no longer popular with many. While change is inevitable as the Tory Story franchise finally falters, it’s hard to to see what that change might look like – perhaps more effort should go into demonstrating that vision for 2024.
A number of our Councillors are actually quietly doing their best to work for and with their community to tackle the growing inequality at a local level. There are also some signs of a positive movement towards a more collaborative style of Council which correlates with the growth in community action, which in turn is where some hope really lies – this all seems terribly reminiscent of something about the proles….

Doctor Who? We are the timelords

As Auntie BBC regenerates after a tough year and serves up a classic Christmas helping of throwback science fiction, all of our great institutions have begun to quiver with excitement and uncertainty. These abstruse struggles seem to show some people really are living on another planet while it’s also very easy to get confused about the century we’re living in.

Previous centuries – as for any year – have some interest for reflecting on where we are going next… so I looked up a couple of personal quick picks of centennial curiosities while thinking about next year.

1924: the first Labour government led by Ramsay Macdonald fell and the Great Depression loomed; Hitler was jailed for attempting a coup in Germany and Edgar J Hoover took over the FBI.
1824: with a plethora of political moments and events, I would salute the foundation of the RNLI – who notably faced down Nigel Farage in maintaining their purpose of saving all human lives.

And of course, 40 years back, in 1984, we were amused by the imagination of George Orwell in 1948 – fantasising about newspeak distortion of the truth; harsh regulation, political correctness and more.

I’ll leave it to you to decide if any of these notes have any bearing on current political reality in the UK.

Bring it on

So here’s to the next one. 2024 – with lots of interesting issues queuing up for keyboard warriors.
Getting in a daily qwertyuiop rant on the channel ‘formerly known as’ is something to look forward to: it’s going to be a key political year, in which nothing really changes but phenomenal energy will be expended on observing it happen and serving up a bit of self-righteous for tea. I’m up for a bit of that.

Actually, while that sounds like a clarion call for apathy, I do have a gently optimistic sense of power for the people coming back into play next year. When nobody represents you, when leadership lapses into lazy soundbites and when the going gets tough, then we may just get our act together and find that communities are coming back together again.

The sisters and misters doing it for themselves and for each other.
That would be good to see. Happy New Year.