This time of the year lends itself to personal reflection. Looking back on what we were thinking at the turn of 2022 into 2023, considering what might change over the next twelve months, and reevaluating choices and decisions.

But most of all, for me, it is reconciling how what once seemed like a long time—a year—now appears to pass by in a little more than a long weekend.

One year ago, I wrote a similar piece as I contemplated the end of 2022 and the promise of 2023. Here’s what I wrote.

A year from now, when we go about wishing others a Happy New Year for 2024, I hope the memories of the good things far outweigh the bad and that anything or anyone you’ve lost will be preserved in those precious memories.
I, for one, look forward to accumulating the memories.

Joe Broadmeadow

For me, at least that promise came true. A new grandson to add to our family, settling into our new home state of Arizona, experiencing the highs and lows of daily life. In the final tally, the ups far outweigh the downs.

It’s been a good year on a personal level.

But worldwide, the balance sheet is slightly skewed toward the negative.

The continued and inexplicable popularity of a would-be dictator seeking a return to the most powerful office in the world plagues us.

The Middle East is once again roiled by brutality and warfare. Hamas has found a way to create a level of terror exponentially more horrific than anything that came before.

The Israelis, facing a Hobson’s choice of how to respond, tried to match the terror with a level of military response insufficiently cognizant of the cost of civilian casualties.

Quite honestly, if there was a chance such a response would end Hamas forever, one might concede its necessity. But it won’t. A viscerally satisfying response to violence with more violence merely ensures continuity of violence. It is not a solution.

Racism, the proliferation of gun violence, the growing wealth gap, accelerating climate change undeniably caused by human action, and the humanitarian crisis at the border all continue to tear this country apart.

But I am an optimist at heart. I have an abiding faith in the wisdom of the American people. It is not that we are “chosen” by some particular imaginary being. It is not that we are called to greatness. Nor is it our manifest destiny to achieve great things. Yet, it is within us to make this a better world..

Our strength, wisdom, and potential come from our inherent differences and the solutions that arise from this melting pot of humanity. What we have forgotten is the path to resolving our problems, for that matter any problem, is paved by collaboration, cooperation, and compromise.

The answer does not lie in one philosophy but in a blend of the best of many different approaches.

2024 has the potential to be one of the most consequential years of American history, one that can impact the entire world. If we all just use our heads to achieve solutions and resolutely defeat those who would turn the United States into a fascist enclave with no consideration for our place among nations, we will exceed our potential.

Happy New Year!

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