New Year's Resolutions

As we embark on the New Year, I find there is too much happening globally to talk about my private resolutions. Instead, here is what I hope for globally (and locally):

1. We need to acknowledge that not everyone is OK. The impact of Covid measures is something everyone around the world is going to feel likely for the next decade. Kids did not get to see their peers and likely are impacted psychologically; hundreds of millions lost their primary sources of income. Long-tail implications here are significant. Before we even start thinking of solutions, it is important to recognize that there exists a problem.
2. USA presidential elections are coming and it is about time we select someone who is at most 60 “years young”. I get that the older electorate base wants to see an older representative, but let’s face it, being the president of the United States in the current environment is a contact sport. We need someone who is physically fit to standup to the bullies around the world, and that requires someone to be sharp on their two feet. Whether a woman or a man, this someone needs to be cognitively sharp. Not sure why this is so much to ask for.
3. All of us need to start to act “local”. Let’s face it, national and global gets all the attention, but local is what drives the quality of life for most people - at least in the United States. It amazes me that cities such as Oakland stage discussions on Israel, when their own governments are failing people locally. I stayed in Oakland for a couple of weeks in 2023. I stayed at the house of a teacher, who works with inner city kids. Those kids are living in one of the most beautiful regions on the planet, and yet they never see the Pacific Ocean, they have no aspirations to be part of the amazing Silicon Valley tech scene, and they are unaware of the beauty they are surrounded by all across the state. Tens of thousands of people in Oakland are failing because of city’s dysfunctional government. Many cities in the United States are experiencing some form of this problem. (Oh, and that teacher, is tired of local politics and, after living in Oakland for 30 years, is planning his move to Florida…).?
4. Speaking of dysfunctional city, it is about time San Francisco fixed itself. SF is large (contrary to first impressions), so yes, there continues to be ample room to escape its dysfunction. But it is the lowest quality experience that leaves the longest impression. And if you have walked by Bart, Market street, and much of SoMa, the impression is pretty clear: this is not a city anyone wants to raise their kids in. Not uncommon for mid-day lunch break to result in a vocal confrontation. This amount of stress is just not something that is conductive to the creativity or invention. More importantly, sometimes it feels like San Francisco is representative of the broader dysfunction within American cities. Portland, Seattle… - I see similar problems all around the United States. About time San Francisco residents voted the right people in and fixed this town to set the example for the world.
5. We need moral clarity on the United Nations and that starts with Iran. United Nations has shown its true colors this past year when it selected Iran to chair the Human Rights Council. But the immorality has been visible to everyone who was looking long before. Since 2015, there have been more than 140 resolutions adopted against Israel - which is more than all resolutions against China, Iran, Syria, N. Korea, Russia, <insert your favorite hotspot>, combined. Additionally, UNRWA, a UN daughter agency responsible for Palestinians has shown itself to be the agency of hate. It has employed Hamas operatives. Its teachers openly create educational materials that encourage personal martyrdom for killing of the Jewish people. Under this structure, kids in Gaza and the West Bank never had the chance. And the scale here is enormous - UNRWA employs >30,000 people - two times the employees employed by the UN for all refugees in other parts around the world (in Sudan alone, there are currently >5million refugees that require assistance). UN needs to be reformed or disbanded and started from scratch. Increasingly, it is agency that acts as a megaphone for Russia and Iran.
6. The time bomb between China and Taiwan needs to be defused. In my youth, I studied Chinese and lived in China. I have a personal perspective here. The whole China-Taiwan situation needs to be a non-topic - the same way that France-UK is a non-topic. I fear this is not where things are heading unfortunately.
7. Lebanon ought to see a change in government. Since Oct 7th, there has been a rocket attack from Lebanon into Israel almost on a daily basis. The majority of those rockets are fired from a 2-mile range across the border, and are not defused by Israel's Iron Dom. More than 200,000 Israeli residents on the borders of both Lebanon and Gaza have now being living out of hotels for over 2 months, as Israeli government took a measure to relocate people away from the border. Lebanon is not a party to the Gaza/Israeli conflict, and its aggression violates the UN agreements it itself signed on. At this rate, Israel will have no option but to respond. And implications for the Lebanese economy could be futile. No one is ready to talk about this, but maybe we should?
8. Finally, we could all use a bit of calm. Seriously!

Enjoy the rest of the Year, and may you resolutions bring peace and calm to your family and neighbors!

Happy New Year!