The news mill has brought little positivity to 2016’s legacy and it – along with the people – begged for 2017’s arrival.
The New Year couldn’t come soon enough; it would pull us out of the icon-killing vortex, into an era of prosperity and of broken glass ceilings. Such was the promise of Secretary Clinton’s inspiring, modern presidential campaign, “I’m With Her.”
That November night was a sad time for many women, people of colour, and Democrats. We woke up the next morning wondering if we were subject to someone’s idea of a sick joke, or if Back to the Future had actually been a prophecy.
It wasn’t – the US electoral system failed its people and made victorious an art of demagogy we once proudly said was left in the 40s.
Then, the Internet went mad over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad saying he slept fine knowing his people were being murdered in his own country’s civil war. One really wouldn’t think this were the 21st century.
Whatever happened to white latex turtlenecks, spaceships for cars, and an improved quality of life for every human being on planet Earth? This is not the 21st century we were promised… Or is it?
This year alone, we’ve had a new Star Wars film (which some argue was better than Episode VII), a revival of The X-Files, US First Lady Michelle Obama went all out to battle the explicit bigotry validated in then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (he forgot that America’s a vast continent), Nicola Sturgeon spoke up against Prime Minister May’s accepting the US election results, and Brexit is still a question mark looming over every MP’s head in London.
A general concern over Trump’s election to be what is dubbed the Leader of the Free World, is what he’ll do to his country.
Rest assured, those who owe their survival to the past 8 years: outgoing President Barack Obama has taken measures to protect his country’s weakest links before President-Elect Trump’s inauguration. He has ensured that Planned Parenthood should never be defunded and has drawn limits over locations where oil companies could drill in the Atlantic.
This seems US-centric, until you realise that part of the endangerment of aquatic wildlife is due to oil leaks in the ocean, and that is not only an issue for our omega-3 intake, it also harms our little blue planet’s ecosystem.
To continue the conversation about the environment – which you should be concerned about regardless of your dietary preferences – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will be running for another term.
Next to the Queen, the German politician seems to have seen world leaders come and go, and has remained true to her values. On top of that, she’s leading her country into energy independence. Praise be to her.
With little guarantee to a stable and safe 2017, one thing is for sure: it will be an interesting year. The Trump administration is concerning, but his mandate is unpredictable. Prime Minister May refuses to talk about Article 50, which leaves many wondering what will happen come March, and television is ever stranger in its nostalgic choice of material.
We’ll see you there.
Journalist - Translator
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