2022 A Year Anew?

Every December 31^st the champagne corks pop, party blowers blare and auld lang syne is slurred from the drunken lips of revelers worldwide.  It is time to start a new year, a chance to be a better person, country, and world.  Promises are made through resolutions that fade sooner than the millions of hangovers that occur on January 1.  “This year will be better”, we will all proclaim in a moment of jauntiness, usually inspired by the alcohol-induced amnesia of reality.  Yes, we will start anew and this time we will do it better.  Or will we?

Will we make a serious, scientific, nonpolitical effort to reduce carbon emissions and slow down the crazy-ass changes to our environment in 2022?   Or will it be business as usual for the oil companies whose profits seem never-ending?  With all the magnificent technological breakthroughs we have seen, isn’t there just one that could reduce the use of fossil fuels by say 30 percent?  Maybe we should use fossil burners less or would that impinge on our beloved freedoms?  Forget about leaving a better world for our grandchildren, after all, who gives a shyte, it will be their problem to solve.

A major sex offender’s handler of underaged girls has been rightfully convicted and deservedly faces decades behind bars.  But wait, where is the list of high-profile sex offenders and pedophiles that is out there?  The list probably includes two former presidents.  In 2022 will the rich and powerful walk away again from crimes that are of the most despicable and heinous in nature?  We are talking about our children (often referred to as underaged women) being sexually assaulted by these bastards of money and power like amorous reprobates and perverts.  Or will pedophilia be legal and acceptable for those who wield unending power?  Do we remain in the days of kingdoms and monarchies where underaged women (children) are brought to the kings at their discretion and pleasure?

It seems that we are getting close to the extradition of a man whose only crime was publishing the truth.  I guess 2022 will be the year when the military-industrial complex will be able to protect their war chest from those who expose the use of weapons against the innocent.  Wars crimes in our country are constantly justified as the protection of American freedom and security.  Let me get this straight, our freedom depends on the murder of innocent men, women, and children?  What it comes down to is the fact that our war-mongering military leaders believe war crimes are necessary and must be hidden from US citizens.  And for those who pass themselves off as the media, be warned the conviction of this man will end the 4^th Estate and the quest for truth.  Keep this in mind as Great Britain acquiesces and follows the US commands like a trained puppy and extradites a man who is only guilt is telling the truth.

Will this new year bring us politicians who will no longer use insider information to broker huge stock gains for themselves?  The dried-up old prune who is currently the speaker of the house tried to justify insider trading by saying “we are a free-market economy”.   Well, it seems obvious that the free-market economy means something different for those of us who are not in power.  Insider trading is a crime that is punishable by imprisonment.  This double standard is obnoxious and more than demonstrates that laws are different for the rich and powerful.  Meanwhile, the serfs have laws that keep them dumb and poor.

I wonder if 2022 will help us to understand that an epidemic that can kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of people should be fought with our cooperation?  Sometimes we have to do things that are not comfortable to us to help save fellow citizens.  When something becomes a “clear and present danger” to our society we need to work together to stop it.  Instead of burning orthodoxy to the ground before we even fully understand what we are dealing with, we need to have complete and truthful information.  This, of course, would require better leadership from our government and the medical officials.  Instead of allowing a criminal to have complete charge of the medical information, maybe we could have a group of well-vetted independent medical advisors to help us solve the issue.  Once again, I do not feel optimistic about this, but it is my hope that sense and sensibility will prevail, and science will become science again.

While we are on the subject of the pandemic, will 2022 see us put the one single person who is responsible for the Covid mess in prison?  This person is the US chief medical officer who lied about the appropriation of funds to a Chinese lab for the sake of “gain of function”.  Then, quite coincidentally, the virus escapes the lab and completely destroys what is left of our already failing society.  Several documents proving this guilt had surfaced but somehow were disappeared. Our government blames China for this mess, maybe they are complicit but so is the US my dear friends.  The truth is everything centers around one key figure.

In 2021 we swore in a President (Rip Van POTUS) who promised to be a “unifier” of the nation.  Will 2022 see him keep his promise or will he continue to stumble over his own dick as he struggles to stay awake at the podium?  Let me be very clear I supported the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the end of all the useless wars that we are involved in.  What I didn’t agree with was trying to sneak out of the country like a thief in the night, which was an obvious failure, was he involved in that decision?  This president has a majority of the House and the Senate votes but cannot craft and pass a bill that helps the citizens of the United States.  Maybe 2022 will be the year that ole Rip gets it right and brings the nation together (not holding my breath).

Surely 2022 will be the year that we destroy all corporations and in their place build cooperatives where everyone can make a decent living.  The new world of employment will rid itself of the dictatorship of the old corporate guard and replace it with egalitarian management where everyone is involved in decisions.  What excitement there will be when everyone gets the chance to be boss for a week or maybe even a month.  We would all have a say in what direction our cooperatives will go. 

While we are on the subject of cooperatives, perhaps, we could increase our manufacturing capabilities here at home and get off of the global stage. Through a network of coop manufacturing, food production, healthcare, and all other products and services we could build a better economy, one that functions for everyone instead of the upper 1%.  The bottleneck that occurred in the Port of Los Angeles this year was clear evidence of our dependence on China and Southeast Asia for many of our simple manufactured goods.  You might recall in 2020 we did not have the manufacturing capacity to build medical masks (for Covid) we had to rely on other nations that couldn’t meet our needs.  What if we could create a new economy where we build most if not all of our needs right here at home.  No more bottlenecks or shortages. 

I have high hopes that 2022 will see the country get Universal Healthcare.  I am of course being facetious, as long as huge profits are available to big pharma, insurance companies, and other corporate bloodsuckers nothing will change on that front.  Like an allegorical fairy tale, the so-called knights promise to slay the dragon (current healthcare system) and replace it with a unicorn (single-payer system), but the dragon remains more powerful and stayed than the faux knights.  Imagine a situation where every US citizen could stop fearing illness and having to file for bankruptcy for a cure.

What if 2022 was the year that all of our troops came home to defend our home shores?  Wow, that would be great, no more killing to force our hegemony on the rest of the world.  We could be known as a peaceful nation and not the evil empire trying to impel every other nation to bow before us.  We could use the savings from a reduced military budget (over $940 billion in 2021) to give skills to returning soldiers through education, enabling them to work in our newly formed cooperative workshops and farms.  While we are at it maybe we could actually be respected and admired instead of being viewed as the dominant world power.  The current budget of $750 billion ($940 billion actually spent) would go a long way in solving hunger and education.

Could 2022 be the year where we get our heads out of our collective arses and maybe mimic the education systems of successful nations?  We could benchmark the programs that have been successful in math and science, two areas where we are failing.  If we do not step up to the level of other nations our children and grandchildren will not stand a chance.  We need to extract politics from these programs and focus on the core curriculums that prepare students to make a difference in their world.  Also, if I am elected, I will involve parents in the process (don’t run out to the polls, I am not running for anything).

I know, 2022 will be the year that gun violence stops.  I certainly agree that new gun legislation is necessary for the US, I mean who the fuck needs a military-grade weapon other than the military of course?  Are the deer getting crafty and require many rounds to bring them down? Or perhaps all game animals are now sporting armor that requires large piercing ammo to put them on the dinner table.  I suppose having 50 uninterrupted rounds will enable duck hunters to bring down the whole flock, what a bonanza.  Military-grade and any of the bump-stock enhanced weapons should be on the extinct list for the average citizen.  However, let me also say that the deep-rooted cause of these shootings is societal problems.  I say it again, if we build an egalitarian society for all people, we can solve many of the societal problems that plague us.

In the new year, we will stop producing and using large quantities of plastic, right?  Or will we continue to create billions of tons of polymer products and by extension build new islands in our oceans.  There are already Texas-size swaths of plastic in our seas and dotting the landscape.  Because recycling programs are almost extinct in our country and no other nation wants to buy the shit from us anymore, the situation is growing dire.  If we continue down this path, I see a day when foot tours from New York to London will be possible.

It is my belief that 2022 will be the year that we stop blaming Russia for everything that plagues us in our malfeasant government (once again being facetious).  Whether it is elections where the Democrat candidates lose or are allegedly hacked (which usually exposes the lies that they constantly hide from the public).  And most recently, the accusations of Russia’s imminent attack on Ukraine.  Russia has no desire to be in a full-scale war, they want more to be involved in doing business in Europe.  The US destabilized that region by ousting a democratically elected president via a political coup.  The current presidential administration has reappointed one of the officials who lead the coup and has once again assigned her to that region as an undersecretary.  It is the US whose business is war!

2022 will most certainly be the year where athletes and sports owners will dedicate some of the hundreds of millions of their earnings to nurses and teachers.  Or perhaps to the millions of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck.  You know, the masses who are struggling to put a meal on the table and can’t afford healthcare.  Conservative economists will point out that world-class athletes bring in more revenue than teachers and nurses.  Perhaps a valid point but let’s examine the value of teachers and nurses   20 years from now, by then most athletes will be retired and will have no benefit to the millions who watch them now.

Then there is the really big change for me that will happen in 2022 we will finally have a third political party to challenge the corrupt uniparty (urban word) of neoconservatives and neoliberals. Our two-party system has morphed into one aligned evil like a caterpillar turning into a snake.  Many other nations have found that having multiple political parties function better than just two, especially when those two parties become a monarch partnership.  The “Peoples Party” has been organized and offers some different ideas that would bring a wider variety to the political landscape.  Unfortunately, the Democrat party (you remember them, the party of the people) has blocked the newly formed party from being able to be on the ballot in many states.  It is time for more choices.  I know some of you will say, “but there already are other choices”, yes but they are generally on the fringe.  The People’s Party is more aligned with the good things that the Democrat party used to be about.  

Could 2022 be the year that the media, intel community, Wall Street and our government come clean with the American public about everything?  Maybe release all unredacted documents about the Kennedy assassination.  What are they afraid to tell us anyway?  Even if someone else besides Oswald is guilty, there is virtually no one left to convict, most of them are dead.  And there was the bullshit proclaimed by the CIA that it could harm US security, is Nikita Khrushchev still alive and waiting to exact his revenge?  The truth shall set you free!

2022 will be the turning point for food, it will actually be healthy and affordable.  This one is laughable, head to your grocery store, pick up a frozen pizza and just before you put it in the oven, take a moment and read the label on the back.  There are more fucking chemicals used on your pizza than an embalmer uses to preserve a body for family viewing.  Check all of your other food packages and you find poisons that the Geneva Convention banned back in the 1800s.  Let’s build those cooperatives and produce more food locally and cook it at home.

And hopefully, this is the year when we stop using the term “woke” to describe everyone who has suddenly become aware that there is a lot of lousy shit happening in our world.  I hate the expression as it invokes connotations that we have just been awakened to find the world is a mess.  We have been awake the whole time, we have simply walked through all of this bull shyte with blinders on.  Everyone refuses to believe that this immorality and corruption really exists.  Get fucking serious here, it does, so stop claiming that you have just “woke” to discover things are a little less savory than you had hoped!

There is so much more that I could have brought up here, but you get the gist of the matter.  It is time for us to start making changes for the people in our nation, the assholes who are in charge are not going to do it.  We need to start in our communities, at the grassroots level.  It will take a long time, we didn’t get into this mess overnight.  Little changes can make a big difference, and we are running out of time to make them.  Maybe 2022 will be a better year and all of these issues will be made right. Sure, and I just saw a pig fly by my window.  As always, this is just my opinion.  Happy New Year!

The Grumpy Old Fart Citizen

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