Early in the morning. First day of the year, first real working day. The misleading feeling that everything is brand new, wrapped in sturdy cellophane. The old woman begging at the parking lot gate crumbled a loaf of bread on the sidewalk for breakfast for the pigeons and parrots, who confidently feasted until an arrogant, menacing seagull with its orange beak appeared. Four squawks are enough for the winged litter to move away. According to the inexorable mechanics of the world, the largest shells are soaked for taste in this way, the bottom is cut off, leaving very few crumbs for the little birds. 2024 starts like this, moreover, leap year is cominganother one of those years 366 days of bad luck since Julius Caesar. It was also a leap year 1616The deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare appeared to coincide. AND 1912, ‘The year of the Titanic. AND 1936… Do not take me into account; Superstition is as stupid as it is tacky.
In these days when engines are idling and there are balances and new goals, someone remembered the dictator’s half-joking speech. Enver HoxhaThe Stalinist, who filled Albania with shelters and hunger, gave a speech to his citizens on New Year’s Eve. 1967: «Comrades, this year will be more difficult than last year. But it will be easier than next year.” What a game not to use a bigger name. I say that someone dropped the quote in a joking tone to lighten my morale, because in 2024, he starts walking tired and stooped, as if he has aged prematurely.
TWO LACERANT WARS
The United States and China are reheating the cold war cauldron by using Taiwan, a major producer of semiconductors, a key industry in the production of everything from fighter jets to solar panels, as an excuse. Unbearable massacre Gaza: 22,000 dead and the vanished dream of two states, because there will no longer be any land left for Palestinians to settle. The conflict in Ukraine in the wake of Russian aggression is on track to complete two years without any signs of negotiations, but the opposite: stagnation and oblivion. Seagulls and hawks versus pigeons.
Putin will win the elections again in March for his fifth term. European Parliament elections will also be held, where the far right is expected to gain strength due to fear of immigration and insecurity. Same in the United States; By the end of the year, an embattled Joe Biden could face re-election against Donald Trump – himself not yet a rule – who has said he will become a dictator “for a day” if he remains in command. To escape.
Our species is a failure, but we cannot live without hope either. I hope this year has been an important year in the transition to another era.