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Happy 2022! I’m glad to put 2021 behind us, but I’m concerned that many of its largest problems have dangerous momentum coming into the new year. A pandemic exacerbated by anti-science attitudes and disinformation, tribalism that threatens the function of society, government, and democracy, and a disdain for truth and facts if those facts urge us to acknowledge and confront injustice… all come to mind. However, regardless of the way things seem to be trending, we can never give up hope, and I think we have the power to transcend petty grievance, see ourselves in others, and pursue justice fueled by compassion. We all start the new year with idealism and a few resolutions that reflect that idealism. One of my resolutions is to choose my actions not based on fear and anger, but on love and hope. However, hope without action is meaningless. To quote Desmond Tutu “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”. I will be vigilant applying a simple concept my grandmother taught me as a kid: she said “sometimes you’ll be the one cutting the cake while others rely on you to be fair, but other times they’ll be cutting the cake and you want to be able to trust them to be fair”. My grandmother, the pragmatist along with idealist, added a safety check to this principle… the cake-cutter always got the smallest slice, ensuring that I, or my cousins, would cut the slices to be as equal as possible! A functioning society is dependent on fairness and trust, so I hope you’ll join me in cultivating both in 2022!
-Shepard
