2010: hoping that at least some of our wishes come true...

    You get to the end of the year and you feel obliged to put things on a sort of scale, and, as you raise your glass to clink and sip the entrance of the new year, you can’t help wishing a lot of things that probably are but the mad dreams of a freaky idealist. But wouldn’t it be a tragedy if we could not wish? By wishing we at least can organize our thingking patterns in a positive direction. So why not let your hair down and join us to wish for those things your pragmatic self discards as pure surrealistic nonsense? Here goes!

1. Let’s put an end to wars of all sorts, those that are supposedly "justified" and those that are "preventive" and those that are aimed at expanding power at the expense of others, those done in the name of "God" (in any of mankind's religions) and those carried out "to end wars;" why not just say, no, we don't always have to fight, let’s do things another way, let’s talk out our differences, let’s argue, struggle, defend ourselves and our families and our nations and our cultural values with respect and dignity and love for life as the ultimate essence of existence. As practically all of our religions assert, the only circumstance when violence may be accepted as an option is in self defense.

2. Let’s apply a similar notion to our own network of family and friends, putting an end to domestic violence, attacks against spouses, children, the downtrodden, those of a different religion, ethnic group or cultural background; let’s accept that we are all humans, with the same basic needs, to love and be loved, to learn, to work and create and to grow with the understanding of our companions and loved ones. Our differences may be great but we should never try to resolve them with acts of violence. Rich and poor, workers and businessmen, black and white, Crhistian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, Taoist, agnostics, non-believers: we are not all "equal" because we life in a world of disequality, but we should all have the same rights and should be considered "equal" in terms of our legal existence.

3. Let’s take the billions of dollars spent on weapons of destruction, let’s slash our military budgets and unleash the corresponding enormous amounts of money and resources to educating our citizens in the art of creative and critical thinking; let’s put the money now used to invent new and more destructive weapons--including atomic and bacteriological weapons of mass destruction--into building schools, hospitales, houses, cultural centers and decent living conditions for all of our citizens, providing them with healthy and safe living environments; let’s use those military budgets to push back the contamination of the land and the air we breathe.

4. Let’s work together to organize our systems of justice, bringing those guilty of crimes to fair trials, sending those guilty of gross violations of human rights to prisons in which power, money and influence may never be used to obtain release; let’s judge the magnate who has swindled millions out of people’s life savings with the same criteria of severity as used to judge, say, a car thief; let’s create a judicial system in which the acts of the accused are judged independently of his or her wealth, social position, race, religion or sex.

5. Let’s clean up and humanize our jails, understanding that their purpose is to protect society from possible acts of violence, not to seek revenge against the criminal; let’s understand that criminals are human beings whose wrongdoings are due to diverse factors, inheritance, drugs, social, economic and environmental factors, many of whom can be recuperated through education, art, work and understanding. Wrongdoers should be punished. They must pay for their crimes. But they should not be the subject of society's vengance. Let’s understand that the policy of an eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth--in war and in the treatment of lawbreakers--only generates more violence and serves to "justifiy" the violent acts of both the State and the criminal.

6. Let’s learn how to appreciate and respect persons of the many diverse religions, sects, beliefs and cultural traditions around the world; let’s work for the preservation rather than the destruction of diversity, understanding that the richness of our customs is an inheritance of the entire human race, that no society can claim to be superior, that only those beliefs or traditions which are destructive of the essence of the human being should be resisted; that it is through the exchange of these ideas and traditions that we can come to a more profound understanding of our own beliefs.

7. Let's use our imagination to bring about truely participative and democratic societies, in which everone's voice counts--not just those of the chosen few. Let's free ourselves of the brain washing effect brought about by the monopolization of the means of communication whose narrow minded views merely reflect the one-sided views of "the market." Let's try to rethink the purpose of human existence, free ourselves from the notion that we only exist as buyers and sellers in an enormous and soul-less market

8. Dear reader: we know there are also endless more items on our list, and on yours. We welcome any comment you may have and any suggestions you might have to add wishes to this list. May you have a wonderful and productive 2010!