2016 Wrap up / What will the New Year bring?

2016 Wrap up / What will the New Year bring?

One post. That’s all I managed in 2016. I know, I’m terrible. For the last few years I’ve posted during my year end wrap up that I’d write more the following year, but I’m failing pretty miserable. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to. If it’s the thought that counts, there’d be hundreds of posts in 2016 but alas, one must actually type them out.

I think most people (who reads this blog anyway) would agree that 2016 really sucked. The American people have decided to listen to a con artist and fake news from Russians to begin four long years of corruption, geo-political uncertainty and the (re)rise of the white supremacists movement in America.

I’m sadden that Americans were so easily fooled (although it’s been years in the making with pseudo ‘news’ outlets like Fox breeding the ignorant). There is a large majority in the country that has been bred to hate anything that has been labelled as ‘progressive’ or ‘liberal’. At times even when it’s good for the person or the country. They’ve been able to take that out of the thinking. They have been taught to just hate, not think about why or what exactly it is they’re hating.

What's more infuriating is that Russian has meddled so much in this election with their trolls and fake news sites and the GOP refuses to do anything about it. How can you say you're American when you don't care about our political process? What would they be screaming if the Russians were helping the democrats? The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

The difference today versus before is that the hate is not about a difference in ideas (conservatives don’t actually have any ideas other than to repeal anything they see as progressive), but they’ve been able to harness pure mindless hatred in the American public. This is where things get dangerous. This is Un-American. This is how we got Trump.

Yes, I understand where this hate came from. It comes from fear. The fear that middle white Americans will have to adapt to the changing word (economically, politically). Unlike all other ethnic groups who have had to adapt to survive, this is new for white Americans and this need to change has brought on fear. This fear has brought on hate.

I’m going to save some of my rage for later posts as I don’t want to get too worked up on this first post. Hopefully, there will be more posts this year J

On to other things. 2016 has also sucked due to a few notable deaths of cultural icons. Prince and George Michael, two of my favorites, passed away this year. The one that hurt was Carrier Fisher. The princess we all grew up watching. For me, she was one of the first female characters that wasn’t just a damsel in distress. Leia was strong and held more than her own. She wasn’t just someone that needed saving, but she was the one who saved the day.

2016 also saw the UK exit the EU in what is probably one of the most ridiculous political moves. Conservatives stoked fear and make promises that they were never going to keep (money going to the health system? Yea, we were just kidding). Very similar to the US elections, it was fueled by fear and ignorance. At the same time, apathy from those who would now regret their decision.

While the world seem to be crumbling all around us, it was actually a pretty good year for me personally. I know it’s terrible to think so selfishly with so much going on around the world, and believe me, I’m thinking about what’s happening everywhere, but I guess it’s important to remember to think about yourself too.

We finally started and finished a renovation at our house which is great. After having to deal with council and 2 terrible architects for over 2 years, we lucked out with our builder. Everything went as planned and on budget (close enough anyway). Now we have this great en-suite with a great view. Other than that, I got a promotion which is always nice.

We were supposed to have a big trip to Machu Pichu this year, but it fell through due to my poor planning. The time we had wanted to go got booked up so no South America for us. We’ll try again in a couple of years. Next year, there’s an exciting Japan trip planned. So excited about going back. I used to go every year for a while because I had clients there, but haven’t been back in about 4 years now. Can’t wait to go back to experience it on holiday rather than work.

Here's to a decent 2017. I know it's not going to be good around the world, so let's make a pledge to watch out for each other. Help those weaker than ourselves. If you see something, do something about it. Don't wait for someone else because there is no one else. They're coming after all of us and it's time we fight back not with words, but action.

Save the dream in 2017.