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opinions
New Year’s revolution
SAM MICHAELS
Staff Writer
THOUGH EVERY YEAR seems
to bring its own theme of revolution
and social change, arguably 2014 can
best be spent sewing our past hopes
into our future aspirations. Perhaps it
is time to put our current conception
of “revolution” to rest, to build a new,
more lasting, understanding of the
idea.
Since crossing into the age of
majority, and being an avid news follower, I have found myself repeatedly
misguided by a feeling of intrigue
and anticipation. In 2008, the feeling
f irst grew as the stock market tumbled. Surely, outrage at the incompetence of the f inancial industry would
spur shocking and sudden civil unrest.
As we entered 2009, the full scope of
the global recession became clear. As
banks around the world clamoured for
government bailouts, I became nervous that a global revolution must be
imminent. But something strange happened, and the revolution didn’t come.
Populations worldwide had been devastated by the recession, losing pensions, forced to take pay cuts, and
paying higher taxes. But though I checked
diligently every day, though I felt so sure
that we were on the cusp of disaster, the
revolution didn’t come.
In 2010 I found new reason to anticipate
change, only to have the expectations dissipate as quickly as they arose. I watched
in Toronto as protestors set up camp
outside the G20 meetings, only to f ind
myself disgusted by the results. Citizens
and police off icers alike found new ways
to degrade both themselves and our city,
and the meetings passed with di