TWO wishes for 2019. Our first is a quieter world. That is to say (sotto voce), we would like less shouting – and more listening. The year past featured a worrying polarisation of views, doubtless encouraged by the internet, and by a vehemence of expression lacking any respect.
A small point: it is possible to have more than one rational point of view about Europe, Scottish independence, Islam, the NHS, the railways, gender, possession football and the current state of pop music. To air such views, it should not be necessary to retreat to “safe spaces”. The whole of society should be a safe space, in which good arguments win clearly and fairly, while the bad are heard and defeated.
Related to our first wish, our second is to make bullying unacceptable in all spheres of life, from the school playground through youth culture to “grown up” politics and the workplace. Bullying, like poverty, has always been with us, but that only serves to remind us of the need to challenge it continually.
Doubtless, 2019 will throw up contentious issues that test our desire to conduct dialogue decently. Brexit, more than anything, will encourage confrontation. Scottish independence has, thankfully, been promoted largely in a civilised manner, but both sides have their hotheads. Across the Atlantic, President Trump putting another brick in his wall will prompt his opponents to perform virtuous public tantrums in lieu of a strategy. Someone needs to have a quiet word with the Democrats about effective opposition – while inviting our own Labour Party to cock an ear too.
Amidst arguments over ideology, technology will continue making quiet progress. More cars will go electric and some will drive themselves, reducing road rage. Test flights for landing communities on Mars will continue, with potential colonists trained in how to get along. If they can live together without shouting and bullying, that will indeed be one giant leap for humankind.
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