Hopes For The New Year

I'm not typically given to the notion of New Year's Resolutions. This is because I believe that if there is a change or transition that you need to make (no matter the time of year), you should just go ahead and start that transition immediately. When "x" amount of time elapses, you will be able to look back and marvel at the benefit that change has afforded you instead of regretting that you didn't start it sooner (or hadn't started it at all).

Though I don't map out a list of resolutions for each New Year, I do enter each New Year with a lot of hopes and wishes (and sometimes dreams). Mentally, I do think the whole idea of a "new year" provides us with an opportunity to leave some things behind us, and allows us to believe positive change in the year ahead of us is more realistic than, say, on June 7th, October 8th or December 29th.

Last year had to be one of the most tempestuous that I had ever witnessed-both personally and societally. With the "life-storms" came some good worth capitalizing on, but also much hurt that needn't ever occur again. So I hope for much prosperity and positive change in this year 2005, and those things I outline for you today.

For starters,

I hope that as you read "The Vortex," you are indeed intrigued, and that the things written at this site will cause you to reconsider, or to further contemplate the world around us. I also hope that you will oblige me by leaving comments at the end of not only this particular post, but some of the past posts, and certainly all of the future ones. I would love to see agreement with, as well as opposition to, my thinking through the comments that you (the reader) post here (read my profile for comment info).

I hope that the athletic world gets its mind right. All year long, violence from player to player (like the career threatening punch delivered by the NHL's Todd Bertuzzi) and players to fans (Pacers vs. the Palace of Auburn Hills) was a serious problem. And the ultimate proof of cowardice was the overwhelming presence of steroids in athletics in 2004, primarily in Baseball and Track and Field. Hopefully athletes can let their God-given skills speak for themselves and allow the violence to subside in 2005.

I hope that the media can regain much of the credibility that it vastly destroyed in the last year. It was quite ironic that many instances of moral irresponsibility were seemingly glorified by the media all year long; from Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson to the Pacers/Pistons brawl. Reporters appeared to engage in double talk by proclaiming these instances as disgraceful, but then proceeding to air footage and report on these events at a rate rivaling that of the speed of light. If these occurrences were so morally repugnant, then don't further glorify them by giving them primary news time.

I hope that integrity, honesty, and respect can once again be restored on so many levels; with respect to me personally, as well as to each citizen in this country. Each news station, and not just CBS with Dan Rather, was guilty of being "too left" or "too right" at some point during the political campaign. Numerous highly elected/appointed officials were discovered to be fraudulent, incompetent, or just plain stupid. I hope that those in office will prove to be more competent, and i hope that the citizens of this great nation will demand more transparency of them so that we don't run into situations like that of former Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik.

I hope that the American public can stop being apathetic and honestly assess the sad state of this great nation. I hope we can actively pursue routes to truly fix our problems now, instead of suffering gravely in the future. The dollar is plunging against world currency, we've severely over-extended ourselves militarily/monetarily worldwide, most nations don't like us (with good reason), and we are in never-before heard of debt (the trade deficit just hit a record high the other day). If it means protesting like the citizens of the Ukraine did, making wiser decisions in whom we elect, or actually going out and doing the grunt work ourselves, I hope that we won't just be satisfied with the status quo.

I hope the elections that have taken place over the course of the last year, can give birth to positive global relations. From Australia's President (a strong ally of Pres. Bush) to the Ukraine's newly elected Yanukovich (who was truly democratically elected), I hope that these elections, coupled with the elections taking place in 2005 (from Palestine to Iraq), will help to bring about peace throughout this world.

I hope that the barbaric and grisly acts committed from one human being to another can cease this year, both domestically and internationally, from the very young to the very old. I just read a news article of a 12-year-old repeatedly raping, and then murdering a 3-year-old boy. How sick? And need I mention the multitude of terrorists related beheadings and butcherings from last year. This point I will expound on:

In general, people need to first learn self-respect. Because if you recognize how valuable you are as a person, you will respect and value other people that much more (that's a complicated thought, but trust me, it makes sense).

And people need to learn to respect everyone's right to be themselves, and to believe what they wish. In this last year, we saw the further proliferation of "non-tolerance" in this country and abroad. We witnessed the rights of people challenged on so many levels in the US court system last year. From religion, to sexual orientation, to race (for the umpteenth year).

I suppose religion was the biggest of the three. We saw the rise of "the Christian right," which sought to crush all other religions, end abortion, and tell gay people that they can't be gay anymore. But my personal "religion of the year" award has to go to Islam, which rose to worldwide prominence (for the 3rd year in a row) because of a few goons that believe that its ok to kill non-Muslims (and Muslims that disagree with them) as long as they label themselves martyrs and claim the Qur'an as their guide.

Oppression is a terrible thing. And I understand that depending on where one is located on the planet, your religion might be the one that is being oppressed (and certainly this is the case with Muslims in various nations). I recognize that many of these Islamic extremists believe that the world needs to cleansed of non-Muslims, especially in Arab lands. But if the world is indeed destined to be Islamic, can we let Allah do that and not self-proclaimed martyrs?!!!

I hope that the 6-Billion-plus people that inhabit this planet can come to completely value, respect, and live by the concept of Charity (which is a word that not only speaks to monetary gifts nor love, but also to affection and understanding). Do what you can to respect yourself and present yourself with dignity and integrity, prefer those in need over yourself, and totally respect the differences that exist from person to person. And when Charity is expressed to you, whether it be personally intimate or distantly attributed, respond with the same level of Love, expressing your appreciation.

This final statement I make to everyone, from the 12-year-old murderer/rapist, all the way up to Osama Bin Laden. What makes you so much better than anybody else that you can take away another person's innocence and/or take their life? One thing we all know is that you didn't give the life, who gave you the right to ruin it or take it?!! Honestly, no matter your religion, socio-economic status, or personal beliefs, who do you think you are?

I hope and pray that each individual can learn the value of Life as well as Love, and when these things exists, learn to respect them!

Now, Respect that!!!
-Maelstrom