Why 2017 Will Be A Year We’d Love To Forget But Shouldn’t

~~~ This is the last post of the year for me. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who reads this stuff, and has stuck with me through thick and thin. I am ready to kick some ass next year and do my little bit to help the world get back on track. Hope you feel the same way ~~~

I’m not, and sometimes to my own chagrin, a nostalgic guy.

I never have been. But I did learn very early on in life that though you can’t do much about what has already happened, what little you can do is learn from it and do everything you can to keep any of the weird shit from happening again.

And let’s face it, a lot of weird shit has happened this year.

Climate Change

2017, I believe, will be remembered as the year we really started to feel the effects of climate change on the planet. Anybody who denies that is protecting outmoded ways of doing things or is just an asshole...or both.

The storms are bigger, harder, longer lasting and more devastating. The winter temperatures are colder and scarier. The wind blows harder and more often. The snowfall amounts are consistently larger. Coastal erosion is increasing. Ocean temperatures and water levels are rising. Polar ice caps are receding. The whole nine yards.

Politics

There is political unrest and human displacement in many more places in the world, mainly due to clueless idiots who have been corrupted by their desire for power, by racial hatred, by tribalism and all the inhumanity that comes with those things.

Part of the world, and definitely the will of the forward thinking people of the world, is trying to move things to the next level. But this effort is encountering huge pockets of resistance from people whose interests are based on ideologies and industries that are no longer valid. These are people who worship the status quo, covet their power and, in their ignorance, fear the future.

Energy

All the renewable energy technologies that have been developed and are being refined are starting to have a real impact on the world.

These ideas and technologies are beginning to show people, in ever increasing numbers, that the earth offers everything we need to survive and thrive as a species, and that we don’t have to constantly be taking from the it and polluting it to meet those needs.

And without even consciously trying, these massive changes in energy technology are starting to re-position old school energy industries as relics of the past.

The existing and future job creation rate in the renewable energy industry is markedly higher that that of the dying old school industries. It’s just a matter of time before the stock market and the consumer market shift begins on a large scale.

So despite the turmoil, political unrest and the last dying gasps of many old school industries and the robber barons who run them, there is a lot to be hopeful about.

Slowly but surely many different countries, led, oddly enough by China and Germany, have started the process of modernizing their industries and their energy grids, to help reduce the effects of climate change.

The United States, which I believe is going though a rather huge mistake right now, will eventually course correct and re-establish itself in a leadership position in this area. It would be suicide not to.

Social Interaction

2017 will also be remembered as the year people started to really feel that their voices could be heard by way of social and other forms of digital media.

Good leaders use it to take the temperature of their nations. Despots use it to plant propaganda, but at the same time fear the backlash of doing just that.

The connectivity and one-worldness that we see in social media, I believe, will continue to grow and increase the amount of progressive thinking in the world.

As this happens and a new generation of connected young people start growing into positions of power, I believe we will see a narrowing of the chasm between progressive and regressive thinking. These people, by and large, see the world as a single human tribe as opposed to a million smaller ones.

And this will be our salvation as a culture and as a species. Because when we are no longer divided by narrow ideological differences, we are free to share and grow ideas that will make the world better for everyone.

That’s the hope at least.

Think Positively. Act Responsibly.

So going into 2018, there is a lot to be cautiously optimistic about. A good deal of our success going forward, however, depends on our ability to break down barriers that have been deliberately constructed to divide us in many ways.

In this regard, despots like Donald Trump are the upcoming generation’s best teachers. Because they show these young people exactly the wrong way to go about the business of moving the world forward.

They illustrate for these people that hatred, divisiveness, bigotry and misogyny do nothing but impoverish the world on many levels.

It’s my hope that these young people will get that, and use the mistakes that despots are making as learning tools to fashion policies that can alter belief systems for the better.

As we have seen very clearly this year, the world is going through a pronounced state of dysfunction. Things need to change, and those changes have already begun.

My hope is that these changes will accelerate and grow this world into a place where everybody has opportunity.

Where everybody stops sweating the minor differences between us.

And where everybody is much more focused on what’s good for the world and not just themselves or their immediate tribe.

Happy New Year and all the best in 2018 and beyond.

jim out till next year.

In addition to being a beBee Brand Ambassador, Jim Murray is a blogger, marketer and creative professional.
His partner, Charlene Norman

All content Copyright Jim Murray (Onwords & Upwords Inc) 2017. All rights reserved.