We say goodbuy to the old and hello to the new. Welcome 2020!
Happy New Year, everyone!
It’s the start of a new decade and I’ve noticed that there has been a ‘special’ feeling going around in the lead up to the 1st of January 2020. It feels different in comparison to previous years, somehow more grandiose.
I think it’s … hope. Hope for finally achieving that goal you’ve been putting on the sidelines. Hope that 2020 is the year you finally make it (whatever that means to you). Hope that this year will be different. And the fact that it’s the beginning of a new decade gives us that extra push of hope to really believe this is going to happen.
I’ve always been a sceptic when it comes to New Year’s resolutions and that whole ‘New Year, New Me’ vibe — I think birthdays make a lot more sense for setting goals and reflecting on the past year of your life, and if you really want to introduce changes this day is just as important as January 1st. But a friend of mine has been repeating non-stop ‘2020 will be OUR year, the year in which we finally make it!’ and, honestly, her endless optimism is very contagious.
So, my expectations for 2020 have slowly, but steadily become high! And I really do wish that despite everything that has happened in the last decade, that 2020 is a clean slate for all of us! I hope the year is an opportunity to begin new adventures, but also to expand and further develop everything you have been working on in 2019! I wish you all and incredible and positive start of the decade!
Ralitsa Raleva — Stakeholder Relations Officer
As we kiss goodbye to 2019 and look forward to 2020, I can’t wait to kickstart the year and launch all we have planned! I have been talking about misinformation and political literacy since 2016, since before the referendum.
With little defence against misinformation, the public can be spun to believe and repeat any rhetoric. Now, this is not my way of referring to the public as ‘stupid’. The public is not stupid. However, for the most part we are politically illiterate. In a similar way to when someone takes a car to be fixed, we rely on the expert mechanic to not rip us off; in the same way, we rely on politicians to guide us. However, if we come across a rogue trader (rogue politician) we are often powerless to ‘defend ourselves’ unless we know someone who can support us in making the right choice. But if that person is misleading, you are in trouble.
Democracy functions in very much the same way currently. If we are not armed with the knowledge ourselves to make political decisions, we rely on our ‘expert’ friend, the media. Our expert friend however, has been misleading us.
The only antidote against misinformation on this scale is education. In this case, it’s Political Literacy. In 2020 we take on the challenge to help UK democracy thrive, to help the people of GB understand their system, and to ensure we, the next generation, are armed with the tools needed to understand the system we live under and change it. Bring on 2020!!!
Matteo Bergamini — CEO&Founder
It’s certainly been an eventful year.
We’ve watched ancient cathedrals and rainforests burn helplessly. Witnessed the best and worst in democracy and freedom of speech from public figures, and have voted for a government that two years ago seemed unimaginable.
We have, effectively, been swept by events and have ourselves produced actions and decisions that contributed to the minute changes all around us. We are, each of us, both the recipients and the catalysts of change.
This is a new decade but that doesn’t mean old problems will magically vaporise. Sometimes, we must accept certain unwanted outcomes and consciously work towards finding a peaceful resolution within ourselves. Everything starts and ends with us.
And so, may 2020 be the year each of us finds their way towards peaceful resolutions — regardless of the problem.
A Happy New Year to All!
Diana Aganey — Managing Editor
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