TOM EATON: New Year’s resolutions perfectly suited to SA in 2019
Politics is overwhelmingly governed by self-interest and in this county self-interest has convinced many powerful people that theft isn’t a crime
Extract
I like making New Year’s resolutions because, like a good map, they show me exactly where I am in my journey through life. If I have resolutions, for example, I know that it’s the first week of January. If I don’t have them anymore, I know that it’s the second week of January.
I gather that many people still have intact resolutions, which must be very exciting for them: lasting all the way into February before you unclench must feel a bit like a tantric orgasm of self-sabotage. For some, 2019 is the year in which they will try to detach from the fibre-optic teat of social media. For others, it means making a space in which they are protected from the hyperbole and superficiality of the 24-hour news cycle and its spawn, the 1,440-minute hot-take cycle. Some, of course, will fail. Tweeting “We all need to get off Twitter” is not advice. It is a cry for help. Likewise, I would like to send thoughts and prayers to the few journalists I’ve seen declaring that 2019 is the year they step back and live in the now. I hope this new perspective feels wonderful until it disappears roundabout January 15 in a puff of breaking news and political intrigue. Still, perhaps it is noble to try to hold onto some basic, solid intentions as 2019 begins; and to this end, I would...
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