With a whimper

The world is very different after a pandemic which in many ways we haven't yet recovered from. We have a global loneliness epidemic which was in part already in the works due to our dependence on technology. Hence 2023 ends with a whimper instead of a bang with discord between Israel and Palestine, the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict as well an increasing global appetite for authoritarian-leaning regimes. When the masses get nervous they tend to want simplistic answers to what are deeply complex issues.

I will keep optimism alive despite knowing the tumult that lies ahead in the US which faces a soap opera with the Trump fiasco in an identity-defining election year. I need to keep a more distanced perspective in understanding that geopolitics works in long arches which take much time to get to the end of. This means that at the level of my own life I will focus attention on living as balanced a life as possible during what are clearly deeply uncertain times.

Retirement turned out to be the right call.