"The year we are leaving behind has been plagued from the start by a series of social, economic, environmental, technological and institutional challenges, all happening with such speed and intensity that we are yet to fully comprehend their impact on our lives, let alone on future generations. As the overwhelming strain of domestic and geopolitical changes continues to build up, I cannot help but remember the man's words. Too much pressure. Unstable, uncertain and replete with deep inequalities."
"But there was also a strong wave of positive expectations and public excitement as more than 1.6 billion people went to the polls. It was a time of unparalleled concentrated democratic activity full of promises, incautious confidence, passionate speeches and fiery oratory. Many voters were keen to express their anger and discontent, and express it they did. The mammoth year of elections revealed the importance of not only the ballot box, but also of the surrounding democratic institutions and norms."
A young glassblower in Istanbul shattered a vase while removing it from the furnace; the master admonished that excessive pressure, imbalance, and forgetting that the object has a heart caused the break. 2024 was marked by rapid, intense social, economic, environmental, technological, and institutional challenges whose full impacts remain unclear. Domestic and geopolitical strains intensified inequalities and instability. Over 1.6 billion people voted in a concentrated global election cycle that revealed the importance of democratic institutions, norms, and language. Treating political opponents as enemies accelerates democratic decline. Widespread emotional and intellectual fatigue weakened confidence in the liberal international order.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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