So it is a new year, I wonder how many people feel that it is any different to the last because honestly saying that things will be better this week than the last just once a year feels a little stupid to me. It is a new year, new in the sense that we have begun another circle of the sun but in reality the first of January felt no different than the last day of December – unless you woke up with a hang over; in that case silly you.
There is too much emphasis put on New Year celebrations however from watching the fireworks live on BBC News 24 all I can say is what an anti-climax. This years celebrations where half-arsed to put it plainly there did not appear to be much in the way of celebration and those who where seen on the cameras being interviewed just weren’t all that cheerfull. Even the presenter found it difficult to come up with anything to say while the fireworks went off making the effort too say how long it took for the scene to be set up on the London Eye. I don’t know why I expected any different maybe becase the 2007 celebrations where quite a bit more entertaining than five minutes of bangs and a half interested reporters mutterings.
Then again we are facing a huge economic crash people saw it coming a mile off like a giant super-tanker about to crash on a paradise island – something could have been done but people where too happy to over-indulge and further screw up what little was left of the financial system to do anything about it. The problem there was ignorance and greed by a few and unfortunately we all have to pay the price for it, Woolworths have died a tragic death and now many other high-street brands are disappearing leaving a lot of smaller towns and city’s without valuable sources of children’s toys and clothes (in the case of Woolworths disappearing from Sittingbourne) or other commodities which people in such situations are having to more and more source from the internet – if they first have access to it and second knowledge to use it within that context. The economic crash isn’t just worrying because of the loss of big high street brands from rural high streets there is the loss of jobs which come as a result of it and the social unrest as a result of that. On top of all this there are the students to worry about, as with the banks tightening their belts students are less likely to be given credit thus student accounts and large interest free overdrafts dissapearing the scene leaving many British students with the conundrum of finding a job, keeping that job and working full-time/part-time to just keep afloat.
With a huge economic crash comes the recent problems in the Middle East with Israel attacking the Gaza Strip and causing world wide outrage not to mention the huge humanitarian crisis in the Strip which is worsening by the hour. It is hard to ignore that while both sides are attempting to utilize the worlds media to gain positive propaganda – both sides are in the wrong and have undertaken in unethical practices which need to be addressed.
So it most definitely is not a “happy” new year, it is a 2009 for what that is worth and it has for the most part not started well. All I can hope for is that the banking crisis gets sorted out and politicians stop pretending to be economists, students get recognised for the valuable resource that they are, Obama does some amazing things within his first 100 days as Americas first leader in a long time and that Israel begins to understand the serious implications its actions have and to that point all I have to say is I hope you had a nice new year; mine was.
