Regeneration

Reflecting on 2021

How was your year?

2021 passed in a flash, with a year full of Covid thoughts, measures, discussion and conversation forming the wrapper around a package of condensed energy. Events that seemed to play out in random order, because while working from home the dividing line between work, private life, socializing away from home and clinking glasses behind the screen became blurred and everything coincided in such a way that chronological timelines were less relevant and were no longer even experienced as such. A year heading towards....yes, to what exactly?

The year 2021, barely recovered from 2020, cast its shadow far ahead when a mob stormed the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, leading to several deaths and leaving not only the USA but the entire world in a state of shock. A direct attack on democracy, a sublimation of lack of trust in democratic institutions - a common thread worldwide - with an 'if you are not with me, you are against me' mentality; as if the year started with a climax and the worldwide sequel – polarization, powerlessness and mutual distrust – was an inverted prelude to that already past apotheosis. Everything upside down, confusion in all its glory. President Trump was impeached as a result of this uprising on January 13, which gave part of the world confidence in the functioning of the rule of law. Right?

Was this orgasmic violence the logical consequence of a world that had been showing glitches and weaknesses for some time? Was this a failure of systems thinking, efficient, organized but bureaucratic and deadly inflexible? The flip side of the influence of world powers, of the beauty of nature, of the ingenious global logistics systems and production chains, which imploded at the slightest hitch. The shortcoming of effortless globetrotting ?and therefore the rapid spread of Covid. The drawback of the freedom to do whatever you want, which harmed an effective and rapid fight against a pandemic. The dark side of the power of diversity and inclusivity, where the boundaries of extreme woke thinking produce a cancel culture with nasty excesses, such as withdrawing into one's own and new boxes and polarization blocking means of connecting, with the loss of the much-needed shades of gray; recognizable, for example, in the fact that even a simple discussion about whether or not to vaccinate does not result into a dialogue but only provokes a dispute, or worse.

The start of the year was also one of hope, for many. Joe Biden was inaugurated as the new President of the United States, starring spoken word artist Amanda Gorman during the inauguration, subsequently making her an instant millionaire shortly after her performance by selling her book. After all, it still is the leading country of capitalism: 'grab the moment'. Would everything change completely because of Joe Biden? The US, the world's largest polluter (per capita), formally rejoined the Paris Climate Accords, offering prospects for greater success in combating climate change. However, Trump's wall remained erect, immigrants were still being detained and America First often proved still to be the motto internationally. Different tone of voice, same hard stick.

The big boys on Wall Street have ruled the world of money already for decades. Billions pass from hand to hand in milliseconds. Sitting close to the fire and belonging to an inner circle gives access to money, power and prestige. The retail investment portfolios often were collateral damage.

The flip side of this supremacy manifested itself when the power of private investors, concentrated via subreddit/wallstreetbets, started playing the game of the omnipotent hedge funds by massive buying of shares in an ailing publicly traded company - Gamestop - that had been widely shorted (anticipating a price decline) by some major funds. These professional investors were then forced to quickly close their positions with billions of USD in losses. The grouping of small investors showed that the tools of the professionals can also be used against the incumbent. Something that politicians and CEO’s had already experienced for some time, especially due to the still exponentially increasing use of social media. Partly because of this, decisions in cabinets and boardrooms were increasingly made on the basis of appearances rather than a purely rational consideration of facts.

In March, the world got a revelation about the built-in weakness of the globally connected world. The ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal and the blocking of this important transit route started a cascade of worldwide delayed deliveries. Just one ship paralyzed a global logistics network, triggering panic, escalating transportation costs, adding to the already growing inflation. Behind the simple click on a web shop, it turned out that a tangible world full of practical challenges was hidden.

After peak oil now also peak Egoism? Following the whooping Capitol raiders, many other groups followed in activism. If me, myself and I don't want to vaccinate, then the world should know that, and I don't want to bear any further consequences and preferably force others to make the same choices. The staff of IC Units in many hospitals experienced the consequences of these often rather drastic choices, not to mention aggression against the healthcare staff. Making your own choices in silence, grateful for the freedom in a modern Western society, did not go hand in hand with the often silent majority, who were equally grateful for the choices they could make, thanks to rapidly developed vaccines. The ego of the naysayers often turned out to be too big for the walls of their own home. But that exalting ego was certainly not limited to the masses.

Coincidentally or not, members of the business elite, first entrepreneur Richard Branson and then Amazon (and much more) boss Jeff Bezos, were launched into space by their own Spacecraft companies. Shortly afterwards, SpaceX, the rocket-building company of currently the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk, organized the first space trip around the world with only civilians (non-astronauts). All these super-wealthy have plans to someday make space travel possible for a wider audience and Musk even wants to eventually – as a Plan B – make the Red Planet habitable for Earthlings. Even in the extra-terrestrial, these ingenious Rockefellers of today turn everything into a competition.

The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, due to Covid postponed by a year, were a sporting highlight for the athletes, who had been in suspense for an extra year to demonstrate the best of their abilities to the world. Without a physical audience, but thanks to the cameras present, it could be seen by hundreds of millions of people. The year of ‘active encouraging from the couch' was fully experienced here. In contrast to the environment in which it is not winning but taking part that is the most important – the Olympic motto – the setting within the world of the premier class of motorsport, Formula 1, was completely different. Here there was only one goal for the main rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen: to win. With a razor-sharp focus Max Verstappen finally managed to beat 'eternal champion' Hamilton on the final lap of the final race of the season as the overall winner of a dramatic year. The first Dutch World Champion ever in Formula 1.

Last year also proved to be the era of the ominous variants. In a Covid setting there were the Alpha variant, the Beta variant and the infamous Delta variant where there was a fear that the existing vaccines might not be able to cope with it. And just when we were reassured, the Omicron variant appeared, which immediately jumped like a meme on social media from one homo sapiens to another.

In the field of science, NASA's major step was the successful landing of the Mars Rover, Perseverance; beautiful name and stimulant for humanity as a whole. Many photos have already been sent from the Red Planet towards Earth, showing again the evidence of the ever-expanding field of attention of the Earth dwellers.

The biggest breakthrough was just on Earth, with mRNA vaccines against Covid developed in record time, being widely rolled out around the world in 2021. A true feat, both scientifically and logistically. Unfortunately, the less fortunate side of the world was served scarcely, while Covid is the pre-eminent virus that can be successfully combated if the vaccine is available to as many people as possible as soon as possible. The power of working together... And yes, there are vaccine hesitators and Covid deniers, but they are mainly located in that part of the world where, regardless of your opinion, behaviour or attitude, you will still be helped with the best care available. A reassuring feeling in all cases. A world in which freedom to the extreme actually has relatively few consequences, that is a paradise in which many people from another part of the world would love to live. Why is the Garden of Eden only available in the Hereafter? It is not without reason that the migratory flows continue, whereby the Rich West still does not know how to deal with this in a decent, orderly and acceptable way for everyone. Nothing ‘s changed, really…

You would almost forget it in the ever twinkling perspective of Covid, but also in this past year the first Malaria vaccine ever was approved. This vaccine, which can fight part of the malaria cases, is expected to prevent more than 5 million sick and 23,000 child deaths annually. The vaccine has had a development time of 30 years, which puts the speed of the Covid vaccine into perspective.

Another potentially ground breaking development that has been in the works for some three decades was the James Webb telescope, which was successfully launched in the last week of December. Webb will travel to a location more than 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, after which it will be possible to look deeper than ever into the universe with this telescope, actually explore back in time and see the birth of stars, as well as possibly extra-terrestrial live in, to speak in movie terms (Star Wars), 'a Galaxy far, far away”.

In the tech world, the Metaverse – the following stage of the internet, in which the distinction between digital and real world disappears - definitely made its appearance, especially when the parent company of Facebook, among others, decided to change its name to Meta. Here too, one of the online superpowers seems to be preparing to embrace and appropriate this next phase. Web 3.0, often not quite rightly mentioned in the same breath as the Metaverse, is another next level development; a more decentralized version of the Internet. A new tech development, which is beyond most people's scope, but undoubtedly the well-paid smart people at the big tech companies know how to benefit from this development.

In the second Covid year, the first full corona year, we were pretty well used to the existence and impact of this pandemic, yet again we were surprised. 2 vaccine shots were not enough, certainly not against the new (Omicron) variant. In no time, the term booster shot became part of the vocabulary of every ten-year-old to eighty-year-olds.

In this year we also witnessed the end of an era after sixteen years, with the resignation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The most powerful woman in global politics. A rock in a disorderly world. A beacon of stability, with the downside that much below the surface changed and renewed too slowly, contrary to a world that itself is and was in acceleration mode. Her successor Olaf Scholz faces major challenges in the field of industrial modernization, energy transition and much more. Quite important also for the enduring success of the EU.

Speaking of transition...the public opinion, in fact the appreciation of multinational corporations is already years in decline. In an ideal world for some people, corporates leave their country or even come to a full stop, in particular if they are active in the area of fossil fuels.

Ever heard of together we are stronger? While forgetting that this is the ax to the root of the long-term earning capacity of countries, necessary to pay for all other wishes of the people. By way of illustration: even the biggest opponents of fossil fuels now - with new insights - see gas as a perfect transition fuel on the way to fossil-free energy consumption. It shows yet again we will need the major global players in this field and in the field of the energy transition.

More wishes of the general public in the area of affordable housing, which also impacts nature’s habitat, and offering shelter for an infinite number of people from far away, who then also would like to enjoy the health care, social security etcetera that has been built up here, but without accepting that this puts pressure on the sustainability of this system. Wishes, wishes, wishes…

In short, the ideal image of a desired world, almost a virtual world, which clashes with the intractability of the tangible world, in which a lack of people, resources and space is conveniently neglected. Yes, yes, every choice has consequences. Who will untie this Gordian knot?

Is the flip side of crazy individualism and blocked wishful thinking a revival of community spirit and even a resurgence of religion? In a recent interview, prominent Belgium writer and feminist Kristien Hemmerechts indicated that she had recently started going to church: "Associating yourself with a community is very liberating. In the West, it is mainly about the freedom of the individual. I determine myself, me, me, me. " The crisis of confidence that has flared up and is visible everywhere, within politics, between citizens and politics and even between friends and families, has as its flip side the growing need for warmth, connection and a sense of community. The idea of the we’ll fix it society, matching Peak Egoism has come to a grinding halt, accelerated by the all-scorching Covid. As a result, space has been created for believing in or longing for something beyond our control, for the Mystery that rises above us. Everything changes, yet nothing changes at all, if we fall back on the old familiar, on what people realized thousands of years before us, unhindered by the noise of screens and all content on it.

This was also the year of the wavering superpowers in a diffuse world. Thanks in part to technology and the ever-increasing mutual dependence in the field of global production and logistics chains, energy supply and cybersecurity, the image of one Almighty was further adjusted in 2021.

Russia as the ultimate hacker society with in addition the gas supply button as a means of pressure on an already shivering Europe. America still benefits from the advantage of having the global reserve currency, the USD, and is for sure a formidable military force. Russia is also playing a big game by concentrating over 170,000 troops on its border with Ukraine as leverage to get NATO commitments and to demonstrate that it is a force to be reckoned with. The EU has meanwhile become a somewhat invisible economic superpower thanks to a large single market but without central management, and thus an easy target for strategically thinking competitors who are looking for weaknesses. The flaws of soft power in a harsh world. But the great powers also see limits to their growth, their power and their ambitions. Where the money printing model, after years without inflation consequences, suddenly leads to an all-combining blistering inflation, and on the other hand the large (government) debts require caution on the part of the Central Banks, which prefer to keep the low interest rate opiate for a while longer. Militarily, America surrendered in Afghanistan after a two-decade-long war-on-terror that started after the 9/11 attack on America, and after an unexpectedly rapid advance by the Taliban, gave the capital Kabul and therefore de facto the country, back to the same Taliban. David and Goliath all over again.

In China, Evergrande, the largest property developer in that country, with a huge debt of hundreds of billions of USD, could no longer meet its obligations. This can create a domino effect and this house of cards will stand as long as the government and banks allow it. In a mutually dependent world, this is an existential danger for all.

Speaking of giants and weaknesses, one man in America can make all the difference in whether or not President Joe Biden's massive Build Back Better social and green investment plan is implemented. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin concluded the plans were not in line with the wishes of his West Virginia backers, so plans that could provide a better life for millions of Americans are in jeopardy. Another illustration of putting omnipotence in perspective.

In between, light-hearted news occasionally trickled through, such as ‘what is now the latest TikTok craze?’. This digital app which provides distraction to children and young people who are mainly confined to their homes by Covid, sometimes makes you smile and then shudder when children have come up with something that incites others to dangerous behaviour. Speaking of the lightness of being, a new studio album, Voyage - after 40 years! - from the world famous band ABBA marked an end of a journey, because this is really their last album. This ending was also the beginning of a new adventure, in the form of an avatars - ABBA tars - tour. Nostalgia & contemporary technology intertwined on an infinite journey.

The all-encompassing power of nature was increasingly heard of. Deadly tornadoes, extreme temperatures and all-consuming volcanic eruptions happening in places such as La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, and the Sumeru volcano on the Indonesian island of Java. All-scorching fire as a reminder of realizing the vulnerability of all life on this planet. As long as the Earth's crust keeps the fire below the surface, what you can't see isn't there. Until that thin layer breaks like varnish on the loving human being revealing dark depths of distrust, self-interest and dormant violence. In the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, water unexpectedly showed the other side of age-old, sweetly babbling river streams, which transformed themselves into monstrous water walls, which engulfed entire villages, causing enormous damage and many dozens of deaths. Fire, wind and water alone or in combination proved to be more than just the elements in a zodiac.

The power of reconciliation could be experienced in an appealing way on the famous Berlin Brandenburg Gate, on which in May of this year 'Thank you' had been projected in 4 languages by the Germans, defeated in 1945; thanking the then Allies for ending the war once started by the Germans. This was expressed in a different way by Chancellor Angela Merkel in her Liberation day lecture in the Netherlands, in which she highlighted reconciliation and connection as the foundation for strengthening and safeguarding shared values.

During the year, the cultural ‘temples’ were occasionally open, where one could fully and more intensely than ever enjoy all that the artists presented to us. From opera, via leading art exhibitions in museums to plays and concerts in large and small theatres. Enabling the public to dream away from their Covid-wrapped and confusing lives.

Letting them become one with the audience present, who felt free to feel and express the deepest human emotions in their fixed seat, without wearing a mask. At the same time, the concept of freedom evoked very different sentiments, partly due to the 'freedom marches', organized or visited by groups that felt their freedom was killed by Covid measures, while the silent majority watched and wondered.

In this climate, the online ‘opinion factory’ exploded, with Twitter as the leading platform, with networks increasingly based on creating division instead of solidarity.

The energy transition was further accelerated in 2021, with the vast majority definitively realizing that there is no turning back to significantly reducing issues such as global warming and air pollution. At the same time, it turned out that there were limits to the speed of the transition. Shutting down nuclear power plants or closing coal power plants without sufficient backup to guarantee somewhat affordable energy and security of supply has already led to accidents, such as the (temporary) stop of production, because exploded gas prices made the production of goods no longer profitable.

And what if the houses still heated by gas can no longer be heated in a cold winter because of a shortage? Every decision has consequences, which we do not always want to see, until we are confronted with the consequences. Perhaps the time has come for new approaches, away from linear management models. Set goals more broadly and leave room for new technical developments that can make an accelerated contribution to the same goals in the future. Sometimes a step back and then acceleration forward, like a trampoline. Nature already taught us that water always flows to the lowest point; you can't force nature. Stimulate rather than force?

A historic agreement took place on the global tax front, when 130 countries agreed to apply a minimum 15% corporate income tax rate for (multinational) companies as from 2023, regardless of where they are located. This creates a level playing field in which everyone pays a fair share to keep a society afloat. Improve the world together. Possibly a prelude in which companies are becoming more and more purpose-driven and also participate more actively in the major social themes and the accompanying public discourse. This gives an impulse to employees, companies and society as a whole.

Research published in Science showed that after 20 years, species richness and soil carbon storage have largely recovered at 77 sites in South and Central America and in West Africa. According to the researchers, letting nature take its course, leaving it alone, not intervening, works even better than if you actively plant trees.

It is becoming increasingly clear that ecosystems are often surprisingly resilient. If only mankind would leave nature alone, and in any case stop actively destroying and poisoning it. Couldn't you also make use of that restorative, regenerating capacity of the soil, the plants and the animals?

By leaving nature much more alone, and working with nature instead of against it, you may be able to produce food and other things on a large scale in such a way that in the long term you leave nature in in a better state instead of exhausting it. That is why a new term is suddenly all the rage in the land of sustainability: regenerative.

Regenerative: using the regenerating, self-sustaining and healing power of nature. Inspiration on many more levels?

The art world combined with technology continued to amaze us, with the breakthrough of NFTs – Non fungible tokens – standing out. (NFT: A way to link ownership to digital objects, from real estate to art and everything in between).

The sale by renowned auction house Christie's of NFT artwork “Everydays: the First 5,000 Days” by artist Beeple for USD 69 million, in the auction prices top 10 of the past year - this list also includes a sculpture, Le Nez, by Alberto Giacometti - made the concept of NFT world famous in one blow.

A reassurance for the non-digital adepts: the number one selling price of USD 103 million was still?paid for a physical work of art by Picasso, called Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) from 1932. Fairly valuing art…

Another image, not yet art but who knows what the future will bring, was the already iconic photo of Queen Elizabeth of England. She was sitting - forced by Covid measures – all alone in a church bench at the service of her late husband, Prince Philip. This image was representative for the entire year. Each individual in his own bubble, separated from the other, feeling more or less lonely, sometimes desolate, sad and only accompanied by one’s own thoughts.

In the past year, many more people, excelling in various fields, exchanged the temporal for the eternal.

Martin Veltman, brilliant physicist and Nobel Prize winner, who leaves behind a legacy of knowledge shared with generations of physicists. Hester van Eeghen, famous Dutch bag designer, enriched the world with unique designs, colourful as her life. Phil Spector, celebrated for his "Wall of Sound," producer of the greatest music albums and pop groups of the past 50 years, and reviled for his lifestyle, including committing a murder. The world will continue to listen to the music; the rest will gather dust and drift into oblivion.

Great American writer Joan Didion, who blurred the lines between journalism and literature, has now crossed the line herself into the world Pantheon of memories.

For Larry King, the talk show host on CNN for decades, with his distinctive voice and braces, the show is over. Leon Spinks, the man who dethroned World Boxing Champion Muhammed Ali in 1978, can now pick up the gauntlet again on the other side.

Former President of Argentina, Carlos Menem, who was in power for 10 years and was hailed for his economic growth policies, until Argentina's unfortunately ever-looming scandals and crises brought him to a harsh halt, found his eternal rest.

Industrial designer Lou Ottens was not known to the general public but had a crucial role in developing both the cassette tape and the compact disc. We also lost 2 conductors mastodons, the American James Levine, and the world famous Dutch Bernard Haitink, whose talent we were able to enjoy until relatively shortly before his death. His relationship with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra was tumultuous, but all in all, satisfying, intense and unique. A maestro who stood between rather than opposite to the orchestra.

Dutch art historian and globally recognized Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering will never again pass judgment on whether a painting is really by the Great Master of the Low Countries.

For the nostalgic film buff, it was a sad day when French icon Jean-Paul Belmondo passed away. He celebrated his heyday in the sixties and seventies. Pop art lovers mourn the passing of Wayne Thiebaud, the man who was often mentioned in the same breath as other pop art moguls such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. One of his favourite subjects was gumball machines. Egyptian physician and author Nawal el-Sadaawi was the great taboo breaker, sparking both admiration and horror. A person who stood firm for what she believed in.

The almost-Moon walker Michael Collins rose to new heights, after already orbiting the Moon in 1969, while fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at the same time laid the foundation for eternal fame by actually walking on the Moon. Frederik Willem de Klerk is also no longer with us, the former president of South Africa, who released Nelson Mandela from prison and abolished apartheid.

Together with Mandela, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu, fondly called "the Arch", anti-apartheid activist and also Nobel Peace Prize winner, laid his head down for good. A fearless fighter for equality, peace and reconciliation. Forever intertwined with Nelson Mandela.

From inspiration to contemplation. Dwelling on the lives of (a selection of) ?these deceased people a little longer may provide you some different insights. What moved them in life? What choices did they make? What would you like to take over from them or not, so that you - in a life that lasts an average of about 4000 weeks - can give your existence just a little more colour, and (further) beautify your contribution to this magnificent world?

Due to 2 years of Covid that has hit the world massively, the world and all systems are more vulnerable than ever. Now that everything is exposed, and it is clearer than ever where the weaknesses lie, this also offers a unique opportunity to fix what no longer works, to approach things in other ways, to let go of the transmit button and actually listen to the other.

Which brings us to the annual reflection point with the question what 2021 has brought upon us? Only on the basis of experience and realized insights we can continue on the path of personal and collective growth.

From global crisis management, and running behind facts, towards a more beckoning perspective, and from those aspiring vistas together - from mutual trust - restoring the connection, like a complex underground fungal thread network, nourishing trees, society and the world in order to accelerate the joint regenerative power.

Only looking further ahead – where creatives stretch dreams & aspirations and doers realize the pragmatic implementation plans – can offer us the way out of a structurally lagging world, and bring it more in line with the necessary symbiosis between man, nature and universe. Where hope and deep desire transform into decisive concrete action, creating a sustainable future for all generations.

For those who think differently – viewed from every point of view. For cynics and romantics. For creative thinkers and rigid doers. For ambitious go-getters and lethargic bombasts.

As the renowned nature activist, primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall stated in an interview in a leading Dutch newspaper last year: “The way to everyone's heart consists of stories”.

That's very true. If we keep looking around us, being open to everyone's sound, wanting to discover the beauty in every human being, every living being, the entire organism of nature; listening to every story that touches us and comes to us, often at unexpected moments and from an unexpected angle, and then sharing these stories from the heart with others, only then we will move forward.

In this way we can allow ourselves and others to rise to unprecedented heights, and realize ambitions and dreams to make this world a slightly more pleasant and liveable place.

From jammed processes and systems to moving forward, from forcing to letting go, from giving air to the space and space to the air; from re-filling a virgin painter’s canvas to creating new colouring possibilities and promising variants. Learning from our mistakes ánd successes in the past year.

Taking inspiration from the books (& lives) that were closed and from tales that continue to swirl around us, ready to be caught, straight from the source, with no hindering glove, roughening hand gel or physical distance, straight to the soul, which as a result glows like a blistering morning sun seemingly pushed up from the Earth's crust on the horizon.

All in all, realizing that the flip side of polarization, extremism, pigeonholing, hatred, inability, discontent and horrifying alternatives is already there, and that this can emerge as a true natural force without pressure in any form. Reconciliation, putting things in perspective and connection will let energy flow.

This ubiquitous regenerative capacity as an appealing aspiration and further booster for the many positive changes already initiated, from the power of togetherness, that’s what I wish for you in 2022, accompanied by your loved ones and in good health.

Cheers!