TIME TO REFLECT

The end of the year 2022 is finally in sight. Many of us will heave a sigh of relief. This year has been consequential and memorable in many ways. It is customary that during this time of the year, when numerous holidays converge, we reflect on what got us here. We traditionally review what transpired during the past twelve months that we consider worth remembering. Although our memories of historic events, statistics, legislative transitions and cultural shifts are admittedly selective, it is worthwhile to identify some of these. While the impact of an inflation surge deserves to be mentioned as dominant for struggling families, the consequences of sweeping price increases resulted substantially from some of the preeminent events playing out across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic remained the undercurrent in people's lives for much of the year. January saw a global roll-out of vaccines, the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the reopening of international borders. By the end of that month 10 billion vaccinations had been administered. However, sadly, at that point more than 300 million people had already died from the disease world wide. Also in January, China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.A., all permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, issued a rare statement that a nuclear war could not be won and must never be fought. A month later, on February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. Putin subtly threatened the use of nuclear weapons, and ordered Russia's nuclear deterrent forces to be on "special alert." His invasion prompted the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. By mid November, 15.7 million Ukrainians had been displaced. In addition, General Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that both sides had suffered more than 100,000 fatalities each. In the mean time, NATO invited Finland and Sweden to join the organization. Their membership application is being processed, while it announced the deployment of an additional 40,000 troops to its eastern flank. Among the prominent people we lost this year were: Queen Elizabeth II, Shinzo Abe, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jiang Zemin, and a significant number of entertainers like: Sidney Poitier, Olivia Newton John, Jean-Luc Godard, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Lee Lewis and Loretta Lynn. While in our country the political balance of power shifted slightly, a number of globally significant countries experienced a more significant ideological shift. Israel, Sweden and Italy elected far-right leaning political parties to run their government. In Brazil, right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro lost to left-wing populist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In the U.K. the principle players kept shifting every few weeks. Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister on July 6; Liz Truss was appointed on September 6; Fifty days later, Ms. Truss was replaced by Rishi Sunak. Thus far, he remains in place. Finally, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, was elected to an unusual third term. And, not to forget, Queen Elizabeth's son Charles was officially proclaimed King Charles III of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms on September 10. A smattering of other notable events include: - The first successful heart transplant from a pig to a human patient took place in Baltimore, Maryland on January 7. The patient died two months later, but his death was not considered caused by organ rejection. - The International Panel on Climate Change concluded that many impacts are on the verge of becoming irreversible. - On May 6, the first Monkey Pox virus was detected in London, England. By the end of July the virus exceeded 17,000 in 75 countries. - The Ukrainian Folk-Rap group named "Kalush Orchestra" won the Eurovision song contest with the song "Stefania." - An earthquake between Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 1,163. - A heatwave across Europe in mid-June killed at least 20,000. - More than 42,000 Americans died from gun violence. - The world population reached 8 billion. - U.S. life expectancy dropped to 76. Culturally and politically our country still suffered from the consequences of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at our Capitol. The Select Committee investigating the attack is due to produce its final report by the end of this month. Our mid-term elections included significant participation by followers of ideas which essentially opposed our democratic traditions and values. Fortunately for the country, the majority of voters declined to support this movement. Unfortunately, prominent supporters of these anti-American ideas in support of this insurrection can't seem to stop their verbal assaults. It is not comforting or promising when the leader of this movement, who declared his candidacy for the job he lost in 2020, suggests that our Constitution ought to be suspended. Neither does it bode well when a prominent supporter claims that if she had been in charge of the insurrection it would have succeeded, because everyone would have been armed. These are not insignificant ideologues. These are major players, claiming significant political support from their political base. So, the end may be near for this year. However, there remains significant residual carry-over for 2023. Happy New Year!