THERE’S a word been floating in the atmosphere for the last few weeks: “resolution”.
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New year is the time it most frequently hits the headlines, as in new year resolutions. Sadly, these are most often passing figments of people’s imagination that rarely bear any fruit.
I’ve been toying with the word without the introductory ‘re’, and looking at ‘solutions’, which is a very different kettle of fish.
Maybe it’s not resolutions we need, so much as concentrated effort to find solutions to the problems that surround us.
If there is something awry or amiss in the world around us – our family, our relationships, our city, our country, or our world – then the word solution looms large on the horizon and demands attention.
The Oxford dictionary defines solution as “solving, working or figuring out, the means of solving a problem, clarification and settlement” among others.
Every day in the news media we are hearing about more acts of terrorism, massacres, people dying of starvation and deprivation, atrocities that hardly bear description, domestic violence and unexplained assaults and attacks, not to mention the so called lesser offences of fraud, larceny, robbery and the like.
The taking up of arms and waging war without proper negotiation and discussion, without weighing up the consequences in human figures, would seem to be a good place to start examining.
But there are lots more problems closer to home.
Senseless, careless and irresponsible behaviour often inflamed by drugs or alcohol appear to be the most common excuses for inflicting bodily harm and even death on another person.
Disobeying the rules, speeding, fatigue and distraction seem to be the causes most often cited as causing problems on our roads.
We need a government willing, properly informed and consultative, and brave enough to tackle the difficult issues that come before it, and not to keep on deferring the solution.
Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers makes us hang our heads in shame.
The position on global warming seems to defy all the statistics and scientific proof that has been offered.
The unresolved issues about council amalgamations and the greyhound industry are not just going to go away. Crime and inhuman behaviour will not simply disappear.
Maybe a resolution for the coming year could be to systematically research reliable information about the issues that really matter, and set about taking action to get even a small step towards solution.
Are you ready and willing for the challenge?