Around this time of year there is the usual slew of summaries of the worst and the best of the preceding twelve months – movies, TV shows, albums, political events, sporting successes, personal glories or failures. They tend to segue seamlessly into the obligatory New Year resolutions that some apparently still make on the last day of the year. Then some make predictions for the coming year, or a wish list, and that’s what I’m going to do here, while noting that it’s as useful as a resolution, made in haste and maybe adhered to for a few weeks, at most.
I’ll get the obvious one out of the way first – Covid 19. Coming up to its three year anniversary in 2023, Covid is still hanging around like a bad smell, though its existence and progress has been relegated in importance. That makes sense, we are living with it. We have accepted it and in the coming years it will be another sickness, like the other flus that we have become accustomed to. What I wish is that the division that the response to the pandemic engendered in New Zealand never occurs again. I’m not sure how that is possible, given the vagaries of human nature but that’s what I wish for.
Obvious wish number 2 – we sort out the climate crisis without fighting about it. I like Earth and I’m interested in us making our home as safe and hospitable as possible.
Wish number 3. That housing, houses, and house prices were not a constant never ending moan fest in popular media. When the market was booming it was moaning about that, as house prices have fallen there’s moaning about that. To be honest, if one were to read our daily papers as often as I do, you would think that Kiwis were insecure whiners. We are not. A house is a home, we need homes, we need places to live. My wish is that we actually rethought the whole deal and abandoned the notion of houses as investments. Sure, naive, but this is a wish list.
Sporting wish – that the New Zealand women’s football team win the World Cup that is being hosted by us and Australia next year. Women’s football is on the rise globally and I’m hoping for great crowds, media coverage and success for our women. My side wish would be that football stops being a grotesque exercise in corruption at its highest level. It’s a beautiful game, let’s just enjoy that.
Politics wish – that the constant division, name calling, hypocrisy, gas lighting, just stops. It’s boring and it’s pointless. We elect people to represent us cos we can’t be bothered doing it ourselves – it shouldn’t then be a tedious never ending reality show with goodies and baddies and debacles and scandals. Side wish, never to hear about politics in the US again. Why are we so obsessed with that country? It’s weird. I can only think its for the supposed entertainment value. Frankly I find it embarrassing, not entertaining.
Overall most important wish. Peace and harmony – meaning no wars, no fighting, no squabbling – just respect for each other despite our differences. Why not? Makes sense to me.
