Is There Something to be Thankful For?

 I’m going to turn 48 around 11 hours times and given that my birthday is the time that American family and friends celebrate Thanks Giving, I thought I would try and bash out a piece to see if there’s anything to be thankful for.

So, what makes me qualified to talk about things to be grateful for? I believe that my central qualification is that I am what you could politely call a “loser” in the grand scheme of things. At the age of 48, I am past the age of climbing the corporate ladder and I continue to look forward to an old age of shuffling along trying to collect cans to make ends meet in my old age, that is assuming I don’t die of a heart related ailment. Yet, I keep going and instead of killing myself, I accept that I should go on because things may not be as bad as they seem.

In a way, my personal outlook is being justified in the world today. Sure, there’s a lot to be upset about. Prices of just about everything are going up and the only thing not going up seems to be going up is salaries. Just as an example, when my current employer moved into our current office in 2014, coffee was 90 cents a cup. It went up to a dollar in 2015 and then a dollar ten in 2016 and stayed that way until the start of this year when it jumped to a dollar thirty.

Yet, despite the gloomy economic outlook, it looks like people want a more rational world. Even the “fascist” like party that took power in Italy is trying to look and sound rational. The raving lunatics generally did not well, as was most noticeably seen by the American mid-terms when irrational election deniers were denied seats in Congress and Governor Mansions across the country.

The greatest sign of something to be grateful for, came across the Causeway when a corrupt former Prime Minister went to jail, another former Prime Minister who had spent his days plotting and scheming ended up losing his deposit while the former dissident ended up taking the top job. Will Mr. Anwar be able to deliver? If you look at the precarious nature of Malaysian politics and the fact that the Malaysian general election was undecisive, it might be a miracle if Mr. Anwar even survives to the end of the year.

However, there are signs that Mr. Anwar knows what needs to be done. He has made the right noises about politicians needing to remember they serve the people and he’s chosen to lead by example by not taking a salary.

The basic economic situation around the world is glum. However, when you see voters in democracies around the world rejecting the politicians who preach the politics of anger and blame in favour of those who talk about unity and getting through tough times. No matter how bad things get, there’s always something to give thanks for when people look at solving problems rather than assigning blame.

 

 Copyright – Daniel Miessler