Sharon Kennedy: What will 2024 bring?
Usually New Year’s Eve is one of the merriest times of the year. People eagerly look forward to attending parties where the old year is booted out as the new one is welcomed in with plenty of eggnog and booze. New Yorkers leave their warm homes and travelers drive great distances to watch the ball drop at the stroke of midnight. Everyone is joyful and sings the first verse of Auld Lang Syne. Strangers hug whoever is next to them. Diversity is on display at its finest.
Most of us are glad we survived another year and anticipate the wonderful things that are sure to manifest in 2024. It promises to be exciting, even historical, as the presidential election nears and the rhetoric heats up. Our appetites will be whet as two old men face off in the battle of the century. Cheers and jeers will be heard around the globe when the contenders take on each other in a bloodless battle for the survival or death of this thing the U.S. proudly calls “democracy.”
I watch every Saturday pre-primary speech DJT delivers. I read the signs his followers hold up, the latest being “Live Free or Die.” Exactly what is that supposed to mean? Are we not living free now? Are we going to die if he is passed over in favor of Biden? Both are chilling thoughts, and I suppose that’s what they’re meant to be.
The world is watching and waiting to see how much farther down the rabbit hole we’re willing to go. According to DJT, our country’s in terrible shape, and he alone can fix it. If I believed every word he rants, I’d agree with him. Grocery prices are soaring, increasing three or four dollars at a time. Every item I buy is more expensive than the previous week. I don’t know why the Biden administration is allowing price gouging to continue, but do I believe DJT will end it? No, I don’t.
Sure gas prices were low during his final term. I’ll agree with that. The reason was due to the pandemic. The country was on lockdown. Few people were driving their cars. There was no demand for gasoline. No demand, no price increase. Then there’s the rant regarding illegal immigrants. I don’t have statistics to prove or disprove what he says. Like everyone else who hears his words, I don’t bother fact checking them. That’s too much trouble so whatever he blurts out stands as gospel for his followers.
What will the New Year bring? The continuation of our form of government or its collapse? Millions of citizens are voting against our republic founded on freedom of religion and capitalism. They just don’t know it. They think they’re voting against Biden and the Democratic Party obsessed with social issues. Instead of conducting minor research and discovering the truth, they believe whatever their leader tells them. With a little effort, the truth isn’t hard to find.
It’s easy to understand their disappointment in the system that’s held since the Declaration of Independence. Yes, fringe groups have arisen in the past and threatened to overturn it, but they were soon quashed. This time it’s different. This time those holding the highest offices are working against democracy in favor of plutocracy, autocracy or theocracy. Take your pick.
If you haven’t watched the 1976 movie “Network” find it on your digital device and watch it again or for the first time. You’ll be amazed at how well it foretold our future while never realizing it would come to pass.
— To contact Sharon Kennedy, send her an email at sharonkennedy1947@gmail.com. Kennedy's new book, "View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories," is available from her or Amazon.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Sharon Kennedy: What will 2024 bring?
