When a year is drawing to an end and a New Year is arriving, people send greetings and offering New Year Wishes to each other, extending to families, friends and broadly wishing well to our country and the world that we are living in. New Year Wishes are positive and pleasant thoughts wishing a better year and many good outcomes for our lives ahead. However, we all know that wishful thinking may not come true. This is because that New Year Wish is really a wishful thinking and it is very different from New Year Resolution. A New Year Resolution is a product of deep thinking with due consideration of priority and relevance and followed with action plans so that the resolution can be listed as purposes and goals to be realized. For New Year Resolution, one should expect results and accomplishments not like a casual wish. Hence, people should not make New Year Resolutions lightly. This is true for personal matter but even more so for national or world matters. Resolutions are made seriously so to make our lives meaningful. From committing to a physical exercise routine to maintain a body-weight goal to a career plan to achieve a specific objective are all personal resolutions within our grasp that we can give serious thoughts to make them realizable.
Should we consider making New Year Resolutions concerning national or international matters? These matters may seem to be beyond our control. Are they only the concern for the President? Or are they only for the Secretaries of Education, Transportation, Commerce, Defense or State to worry about? No, national and world matters are our concerns as well. In a democratic society, government needs the people to realize any resolution ever made. Therefore, we, citizens, should make our serious New Year Resolutions exercising deep thoughts. Making New Year Resolutions is a serious exercise. We should make them with a clear mind, reflecting the past and thinking about the future. It is our obligation to make personal resolutions for our own good and it is our duty to make serious New Year Resolutions to help our government and to help our President, a President who tweets with his people.
I have made my personal New Year Resolution which I hope to realize in the New Year. I have also made a list of New Year Resolutions concerning our government, our nation and our world. It is a long list after reviewing the significant events happened in 2017. I do hope I can realize most of them. I can make a part of my 2018 resolution list public here so I can draw support from the public:
- From the New Year Day, I shall publish my tweet account, [email protected]
- I will study tweet’s rules and I will not delete any of President Trump and his immediate family’s tweets received without reading them. I will discuss them if deemed useful.
- I will not delete Vice President Pence’s tweets without reading them as well.
- I will write objectively in this column about my concerns and any concern expressed in the Organic media in contrast to the Mainstream media on national and international issues.
- The most serious concern in my resolution list is the US-China Relations; I will do my best to help the two great nations to understand and accommodate each other for the sake of world peace and prosperity, through speaking, writing and praying.
I have more on my list of resolutions; they are all derived from 2017 events after giving them some serious thinking. Instead of tabulating the long list, it is perhaps more meaningful to list below the most significant happenings in the eventful year of 2017. Hopefully, the following ten items may trigger your thinking (as they did to me) to develop your own 2018 resolutions. Here are the most significant events concerning the U.S. domestic matters and international affairs including the relationship between the U.S. and China and world economy and stability:
- The inauguration of Donald Trump, an outsider of Washington Politics, as the U.S. 45th President and subsequent appointments and dismissals of Trump Administration Team. (Trump’s tweet behavior triggered my five resolutions above).
- North Korea threatens the peace of Korean Peninsula, Japan, Asia and even the U.S. with its nuclear missiles. THAAD was installed in South Korea. President Park Geun-Hye was impeached and replaced by Moon Jae-In elected by a significant majority.
- The global warming continues with the U.S. pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Global growth picks up ten years after the 2008 global financial crisis. Stock markets are up but the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate keeps rising casting an uncertain future.
- Britain triggered Article 50 of EU Lisbon Treaty to exit with no return. The youngest conservative French President, Emmanuel Macron (32), elected with working class support, whereas Angela Merkel of Germany and Theresa May of Great Britain won re-election but losing coalition support. Catalonia’s selfish quest for Independence causes instability in Spain, even possibly creating dangerous ripples in Taiwan where it is exploring referendum for independence.
- China successfully concluded her 19th Congress of Chinese Communist Party confirming President Xi Jinping’s impressive achievements, endorsing his vision and future development plans and further solidify his authority to lead another five-Year term with no designated successor.
- The U.S. Congress passed the biggest tax (reduction) bill in the last week of the year with ‘stimulated growth’ and ‘bankrupted treasury’ being touted from the opposite camps.
- Refugee problem in the Middle East is putting EU and the world under stress though ISIS’s loss of Mosul, Iraq may ease the issue. The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar posts a serious human rights case. President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital not only arose 128 opposition votes in the UN but it would certainly stir up more conflicts in the Middle East.
- In addition to the above mentioned elections, leadership changes further include Robert Mugabe’s ouster and replacement by Emmerson Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe, Recep Tayyip Erdogen’s win in Turkey, Mohammed bin Salman the designated heir of Saudi Arabia, and Hassen Rouhani’s 2nd term in Iran.
- Other noteworthy events: I. The World has increased its voice against war crimes through anniversary and memorial services especially about WW II and Japan’s denial behavior. II. China’s impressive technological breakthroughs in several domains, especially in high-speed trains, electric buses and vehicle developments, have made Great Britain to ban gasoline and diesel cars in 2040. III. Apple’s net-worth passed $800 Billion, Alibaba became the world’s largest retailer on April 4th with single day sale reaching $25.3 Billion on November 11th. IV. On the last day of 2017, China reported to ban the trade of ivory with an estimated reduction of elephant slaughter by 64%. Amen!
The above list made me to think; hopefully it will lead you to think about your New Year Resolutions. Of course, you may expand your thinking to other issues, for example, media reports of sex harassment in the U.S. political and media arena resulting in Bill O’Reilly’s and many others’ dismissal or a lighter issue such as Harvard offered Mark Zuckerberg (who dropped out Harvard) an honorary degree. This may inspire all Asian bright students who were discriminated out by Harvard’s admission practice to make a serious New Year Resolution - If I were ever offered an honorary degree from Harvard, I would speak about my personal discrimination story at Harvard’s graduation ceremony!
Happy year of the dog!