A reflection on the past year
Well, dear friends, we've made it another turn around the sun.
In a sense, this is an arbitrary measure. Our calendar is a human construct, and the ticking of the clock over midnight won't magically change anything. We'll still have the same troubles and the same opportunities. We'll be suffering the same tragedies and exulting in the same joys. A change in the calendar won't alter that.
But 2023 was a year. I'd put it on a par with 2016 as far as stress goes.
It was the year that a putative usurper began to suffer the consequences of his action. No, not quickly enough. And he's kicking and biting every moment on his way down. It can be so enervating to see him prolong his quietus. We all wish he would just go away, preferably six feet underground, where his memory will fade and be forgotten. But that's not in the cards. So, for 2024, we'll have to keep at it. We'll have to keep him suffering in payment for the suffering through which he puts us. We'll have to keep working to make sure he and his acolytes don't sneak back into disastrous power. Freedom isn't free, and liberty isn't a birthright; they belong to those who enter the field of struggle, and outlast their opponents.
In 2023, the Republican Party, like the Fonz, jumped the shark. Already with a slim majority, the deal that former speaker Kevin McCarthy made to hold on to his precious gavel came due, as a Florida rapist overthrew the Bakersfield Republican, and was replaced by an even worse nonentity, who couldn't govern or legislate his way out of a paper bag. This is all good for Democrats. Republicans have inveighed against the jihad on gas stoves, but haven't been able to pass a single spending bill. The victories we've had in congressional maps all but ensures the House will be back in our hands come 2025.
All this serves as prelude to the generational battle for civilization in which we are engaged.
On 7 October, barbarians irrupted out of the Gaza Strip and inflicted on Israelis the worst one-day massacre since the Holocaust. The scum of Hamas killed, and raped, and kidnapped. For one or two or, at the most, three days, the world gaped in horror. Israelis, rightly, blamed the extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu for not protecting them, denuding the Gaza frontier to shift IDF troops to support his settler allies in the West Bank.
But then the usual happened. Israel counterattacked, as any country so invaded would. And within a few days 10/7 was forgotten. It was almost as if people began to think that Israel was attacking Gaza for no reason, just out of evil spite.
The events of that day spurred an eruption of antisemitism. But not just among the usual sectors. College campuses across the world were rocked by eliminationist support for Hamas. And yes, it's support for Hamas. You can't claim to support "Palestinians" when the leadership of the Gaza Strip has the eradication of Israel in its charter. You can't claim to support "Palestinians" when the leadership of the Gaza Strip has been caught preparing murders of Jews in Western cities. You can't claim to support "Palestinians" when you march down the street chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free." I criticize Israel as much as anyone. But I have moral clarity in supporting the state's right to exist, and right to destroy an organization which has its own destruction as its main goal. There will be tragedies, devastating tragedies, which will have to be held to account afterwards. In this twilight struggle, we can't descend to the level of our enemies. But make no mistake: in the Middle East and in the West, we are faced now with a battle which will determine the next few generations. On one side are imperfect countries like the US and Israel. On the other side? Russia. China. Iran. North Korea. Donald Trump. The Republican Party. The choice is not up for rational debate.
The struggles which face us are real. But we are resilient. We are courageous. We persevere. We have each others' welfare uppermost in our minds. We think how can we make things better for everyone, not just for ourselves or those who think like us. We know that our votes are not our own to waste, but to be used to bring the greatest good for the greatest number. These are things to be proud of.
And then, allow me some personal reflections.
This year has seen me high and low. The high was when my wife finally returned from Indiana, and was able to get back to work. Love sometimes means that you have to give those whom you love space to find themselves. Hopefully they'll return. She did. After four years, I'm finally complete once more.
And the low? Well, you were here for it, and read about it. It's not easy to admit you have a problem like depression. It makes you feel weak. It makes you feel less. But if problems are to be solved, they have to be confronted. What's true in one's personal life is true in the world writ large. You can't hide your head in the sand. You can't say "a pox on both your houses". You can't be neutral on a moving train. Just like I have to confront my problems, we as a global society have to confront global problems. Hiding from them simply means that we will die isolated in our own homes when they overwhelm us. Life is a beautiful gift. It is worth fighting for. I intend to do so, both for myself and for those around me.
Cent'anni, i miei amici! The obstacles which face us are myriad. But we can navigate them and come out at the other end better and wiser. Happy New Year.