It tells a story. All by itself, once more, the talent of Time magazine comes to the fore. It tells tales of these terrible times. Yet it ignores the wars, their rape and pillage, their lack of decency or honour. It tells you that the person of the year is Taylor Swift. Could they have been more appropriately shallow in their assessment?
But are these not shallow times? Could we tolerate the brief dictators and right-wing politicos who ravage and destroy their neighbours. Is the destruction of Gaza such a trivial event? Is the bloodletting in the Ukraine just last year’s horror? The bombs and rockets and drones are targeting civilians, the working man and woman who seek but a decent life for themselves and their children? Must the next generation be killed at the same time?
And have we succumbed to the indecency of letting our elected leaders take second place to the prurient symbols of Hollywood—where the writers went on strike. And in these times of artificial intelligence, nobody noticed.
Are we using care in selecting our politicians?
Is Vladimir Putin to continue to stand on the bodies of his country. Who speaks for the Russian people—praying for those relations dying to please Putin? Who stands tall with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deny Putin his land grab, his one-upping of the Holodomor of Josef Stalin.
And who cries out to the Sheiks and Mullahs and Emirs and other pretenders of the Arab world to stop funding the crazed Muslim extremists such as Hamas and Hezbollah. And what will become of their peoples when the desert sands cease to give up their oil riches? Will there still be pilgrimages to Mecca by the world’s Muslims and guilt trips to Jerusalem by the Jewish diaspora?
And who can rein in Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu? Will there ever be an Israeli prime minister who can convince the Arab world that Jews can live peacefully side by side with their neighbours.?
It certainly would not happen in another regime of Donald Trump in America nor the growing strength of the right-wing loonies in Europe. The Christian Christmas is a time of love and peace and understanding.
And who the hell is Taylor Swift?
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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