The year of Our Lord two thousand and sixteen is almost over. Another year soon will be receding into the past and all the joys and pains that came with it will rapidly fade in our memories. All the things that were so important, so urgent, will become distant shadows as new, and equally illusory, issues take up our time and energy.
There will be many, many retrospectives of this year on the media in the coming days, so I won't waste too much time on it. I think that 2016 has been a pretty good year. Oh, there are still some very serious problems to solve, such as fascism in its Islamic and Left wing varieties. They are still very much with us unfortunately. There have been, maybe, some slight signs of a distant glimmer of hope in relation to those two pernicious evils. Maybe.
The great news of the year was Brexit, and then the American Presidential election of course.
I could not vote in the British Referendum because I have not lived in the UK for more than 15 years now. I would, of course, have voted to leave if I could have done. The margin of victory was a bit slim, but a majority it nevertheless was. Excellent. I have indicated elsewhere why I think the vote was so important and so positive. I just wish that they would get on with it!
The American election was also a very positive result. I have no great love for either of the final two candidates, but I was very pleased when Clinton didn't make it. She is a corrupt, criminal, ineffective, ignorant and arrogant representative of all that is so very wrong with the West's political culture. I wish Trump well, but I expect he will have a hard time of it, and by the time the 2020 election rolls around people will be tired of him, too. I just hope that Mrs. Obama doesn't stand in 2020. I don't think that the US, or the world, could cope with another dose of Barry-ism.
What was interesting was the reaction of the losers in both of these cases and what that might mean for democracy. In both Brexit and the US elections the losers had a child like temper tantrum. Like a 5 year old who doesn't win the game, they stamped their little feet and cried because they lost. They wanted to change the rules of the game until they got a result that they liked.
Now democracy is a pretty crappy system, but it is better than all the others that have been tried by the human race. Given that we have to have a state of some kind (as small as possible!) then surely it is vital that those over whom it has power have some say over how it is governed. Democracy at least tries to translate the 'Will of the People' into actual governance. The problems that it throws up are, for example:
What was interesting was the reaction of the losers in both of these cases and what that might mean for democracy. In both Brexit and the US elections the losers had a child like temper tantrum. Like a 5 year old who doesn't win the game, they stamped their little feet and cried because they lost. They wanted to change the rules of the game until they got a result that they liked.
Now democracy is a pretty crappy system, but it is better than all the others that have been tried by the human race. Given that we have to have a state of some kind (as small as possible!) then surely it is vital that those over whom it has power have some say over how it is governed. Democracy at least tries to translate the 'Will of the People' into actual governance. The problems that it throws up are, for example:
- WHO are 'The People' - who has a say? Why?
- WHAT does it mean to say 'The Will' of the people?
- HOW can we measure that 'Will'?
- By what mechanism can we turn that measurement into actual policies?
Given that all practical means to answer these questions are pragmatic compromises one has to accept the system that results from that process if one wants to play the game. Fair enough, after the game is over debate and discuss the nature of the system, but while the game is being played one must accept the rules as they exist. I doubt if there would have been a peep from the losing groups if they had, in fact, won.
The US system is interesting and I now understand much better the Electoral College system and I think that it is, in fact, a practical solution to the problem of Federal level democracy in the USA. Given that each State of the Union is, in principle, an independent state there has to be some way of ensuring that all the States have a fair shot. Without the Electoral College system 2 or 3 States would dominate every Presidential election.
Anyway, those events make 2016 a particularly good year I think.
Another positive development in 2016 was the dramatic decline in poverty at the global level.
As a result of increasing economic freedom and allowing enterprise to flourish huge numbers of individuals have now been lifted, or lifted themselves, out of poverty. There is still too much poverty, of course, but the trend is strongly in the right direction.
There have been many, many good and positive things that happened in 2016. One can Google it and find endless web pages listing big and small things that were good.
So, not a bad year at all.
Personally, I have had a good year. Alright, I ended the year in the depths of depression, but that is beginning to lift again. I am happily in love with my wonderful wife, Tove, who has been there for me all year. We have a cozy little house that we love. We have enough to eat and a roof over our heads. Money may be tight, but we are fabulously wealthy in so many ways.
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Now - the obligatory list of deaths in 2016. These are the people whose death this year affected me to a greater or lesser extent:
January 10th: David Bowie died at the age of 69. I always liked his music, some more than others.
January 14th: Alan Rickman died at the age of 69. A very good actor.
January 24th: Marvin Minsky died at the age of 88. A groundbreaking cognitive scientist.
January 31st: Terry Wogan died at the age of 77. He was just always a part of everyday life on the radio and on TV for many years.
February 19th: Umberto Eco died at the age of 84. A wonderful writer. Both The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum are excellent.
March 11th: Keith Emerson committed suicide at the age of 71. A major part of the development of my musical taste. A wonderful keyboard player. I saw him live, once, as a part of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in the early 70's. Tarkus had just been released.
April 17th: Doris Roberts died at the age of 90. Wonderful actress and I loved her in Everybody Loves Raymond.
June 3rd: Muhammed Ali died at the age of 74. Best boxer ever!
July 27th: Jerry Doyle died at the age of 60. Loved him in Babylon 5.
August 29th: Gene Wilder died at the age of 83. Just a wonderful, and very funny, actor.
November 7th: Leonard
Cohen died at the age of 82. Just a wonderful, wonderful musician, songwriter and performer. Has had a lasting, and deep, effect on me.
December 7th: Greg
Lake died at the age of 69. Again, a key part of my musical development. Saw him live, once, at the same gig when I saw Emerson way back in the 70's.
December 8th: John
Glenn died at the age of
95. A hero from my young days as I followed the American space programme with a passion.
December 24th: Richard Adams died at the age of 96. He wrote that wonderful book Watership Down.
December 27th: Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60. Always and forever Princess Leia.
I wish you all a wonderful New Year and a Peaceful 2017.
