There is good & bad in all of us. Getting the majority to act on our good impulses and avoid the bad, is key to moving society in the right direction….

We head into yet another year, with the usual “the west is good” and “the rest bad” mentality that has defined the world for centuries. As I have repeatedly stated, I have absolutely no doubt that western intentions are generally set to try to do good and the advancement of women’s rights (e.g. to education, vote etc) and the quest for circular societies with democratically elected governments, freedom of speech etc., are all prime examples. But we have still not managed to eliminate and eradicate ‘hate’, ‘intolerance’, ‘inequality (and I don’t mean racial inequality, I am referring to the ever-increasing poverty) and disproportional targeting (e.g. sentencing, which keeps so many minorities in jail in countries such as the US or the focus on drug-dealers while the folk buying and consuming it are never pursued or prosecuted). However, even with the long list of issues we could do better with, millions continue to try to reach the west because we do not imprison people for insulting our heads of government or shut newspapers down because they dare to provide challenging views etc.

But circumstances and culture do matter. What works in the west is not guaranteed to work everywhere else. We have already seen that several times over the past millennium. Also, classing ‘difference’ as evil, is not correct. The west should be out to MOTIVATE and incentivise not strong arm. For instance, regarding Brexit, the EU should have applied incentives instead of threats of a dire aftermath. If we look at the Qatar World Cup as another example; yes, the LBGT and foreign workers situation is appalling, but do we think things will improve just because we try to shame them at the last minute? There were several years ahead of the event and opposition was muted, till the event kicked off! There is little to be gained from trying to embarrass Qatar; the issue should and must be raised as they were BUT respectfully and with pleas to their leadership for them to see why the world reacted the way we did. Their country, their laws, BUT asking the world over, means some compromises were required and I am sure they could relate to that. Now, the tournament is over, if the protests had been more respectful, now would have been the time to start fresh discussions to continue to push for those changes (respectfully!). The usual “we are good”, “you are evil” and you must change and do things the way we do approach has never and will most likely, never work

The ongoing war in Ukraine should never have started. Like most of us in society, I do not have all the facts and Russia’s reasoning, Ukraine’s logic, the west, etc. But of one fact I am very convinced, there was and is, nothing to be achieved through this war or any other wars! I read an article this morning that criticised Tony Blair for seeking to get Putin on the high table. We cannot continue to approach global politics the way we do. Other perspectives need to be taken onboard, even if they counter ours in the west! I am not saying Russia or China can be wooed into becoming exactly the same as a France or US, but who says which ones are good and which are evil?? It is clear that every country has its history of good and bad. The point is that we must try to keep everyone engaged, to see if that can prevent situations escalating to the point of war. But yes, appeasement also rarely work, we saw that with WWII.

But the present ‘good’ V ‘evil’ arrangement isn’t working either

By now, somebody, somewhere, should have got Putin and Zelensky to sit down to end the needless loss of lives in Ukraine. By now, discussions should be ongoing to end the madness in other parts of the world where other armed conflict are looking inevitable.

Unfortunately, everyone’s entrenched in their respective positions and there’s an all-round lack of trust, historical baggage etc. So, nothing’s going to change. It is what it is. Sadly