Year 2011 will be assigned to history, as 2012 is ushered in about a month.
It has been a year that will be viewed variously but will leave with worrying signs about the future.
Worldwide, economic meltdown may see many countries collapse under the pressure of their national debts. Years of borrowing and living beyond their means has caught up with many countries. Greece is teetering on the edge of collapse, Spain is not far away and Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has handed over the reigns to a technocrat to salvage the country from economic disaster.
New Zealand’s credit rating has been downgraded and France is on notice.
US President Barack Obama struggles to be upbeat about the future and few are taking him seriously, as America struggles to strengthen its economic muscle.
Unemployment is high, economic growth is static and debt is rising by the minute.
The US is submerging in debt and if it sinks, it will take the world down with it.
It has been fashionable for politicians worldwide to borrow and spend.
Public debts mount
The simple rule of debt is that it has to be paid. Most countries are now caught in a debt trap: they can neither borrow nor repay their accrued debts.
However, China, India and Australia retain edge over others but the fall of big economies will have a catastrophic global impact.
Understandably, there is fear and apprehension as 2012 draws nearer.
World leaders are working hard to stave off impending disaster, as career politicians who created the mess, are being sidelined to give opportunity to technocrats to introduce austerity measures and save global economic collapse. However, it will not be easy, as people are up in arms to resist austerity measures that would lead to massive unemployment and curtailment of benefits.
Streets of Greece are strewn with stones and sticks, as people fight against the state, targeting the police and Government buildings to give vent to their anger.
Repayment of mountains of debt is expected to take ages and the world ahead is posing a serious challenge to take hitherto unseen redemptive measures.
Poverty of leadership
In making tough decisions for tough times, it requires leaders of courage, vision and commitment. Sadly, there is paucity of leaders with such attributes and, indeed, if there were leaders with such attributes, the world would have escaped this mess.
Interestingly, the leaders will escape much backlash and hardly suffer any loss in pay and perks, while the people will be required to bear the full brunt of the consequences. They become the victims of those they elected to govern.
The leaders would escape the consequences while ordinary people will be expected to pay for the mistakes of their leaders.
This folly of democracy is gaining recognition and measures need to be introduced to ensure that elected leaders who squander the physical and financial resources of a nation are required to pay for their crimes.
Hopefully, 2012 would tighten the reins, ensuring emergence of true leaders.
Arab Uprising
Globally, the world witnessed different trends and 2011 will best be remembered for the Arab Spring that culminated in the removal of despotic regimes of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
The Arab insurance was sparked on December 18, 2010 by Mohammed Bouazizi of Tunisia who torched himself in protest against police corruption and ill-treatment.
Following public uprising, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 18, 2011. This spark ignited a firestorm that raged across the Arab world.
Major protests followed in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Jordon, Morocco, Oman and minor protests were seen in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Western Sahara.
Syria is still struggling to contain the public rage against the despotic regime of President Bashar Al Ashad, as protest numbers and death toll rise. A resurgent Arab region is a threat to numerous authoritarian regimes that ruled with might and the unity and resolve of people has been inspired by the social media network.
Gun Power Vs Media
The power of the gun is now being subdued by the might of the social media.
The world has now been reduced to a global village and no one can escape or subdue the power of the social media. By click of a button, the world is at the doorstep of unlimited information. Social media is now a great hope for promoting social equity across the world.
It is also viewed as a powerful medium for harnessing people’s collective support in fighting against oppression and injustice.
Indeed, tomorrow’s world holds great promise and hope for transformation through the social media.
The Fiji Equation
Regionally, Fiji is variously viewed but remains resolute in pursuing its own agenda in going to the polls in September 2014, much to the dislike of New Zealand and Australia who want immediate restoration of democracy.
Hopefully, work undertaken by Fiji in 2012 towards democratic elections in 2014 may dispel fears that the Interim Government is insincere and cannot be trusted.
In five years, some major structural changes have been made, notably, the chiefly institution has been subordinated and all the people of Fiji have a common name as Fijians. The restructuring of Fijian Administration is likely to liberate indigenous Fijians from the traditional structures that impeded individual enterprise and industry.
Doomsday Conspiracy
As the Sun sets on 2011, prophets of doom and gloom have taken the centre stage, predicting cataclysmic or transformative events to occur on December 21, 2012.
However, scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the proposed events as pseudoscience, contradicted by simple astronomical observations.
Let us be cautious and conscious but the important thing is not to live in fear but to be of strong courage, driven by wisdom and vision to make most of what is left of us.
The best we can do is to use of our collective knowledge and wisdom acquired during 2011 and earlier, to make 2012 a better year for all of us.
Rajendra Prasad is author of Tears in Paradise: Suffering and Struggles of Indians in Fiji 1879-2004. Website: www.tearsinparadise.co.nz
