This is a guest post by Kevin Davies, a writer (prose & songs [300+]), artist, graphic designer, game creator and publisher.
It was originally posted on Kevin's Facebook page and is posted here with his permission. Copyright 2025 by Kevin Davies.
Another year has dawned. I expect many will be glad to see the back of 2024. It was a terrible year for so many, in so many ways. If you’re reading this you may count yourself among the survivors.
Unfortunately, for anyone except the corrupt wealthy elite, 2025 looks like it may be worse.
THE MOST POWERFUL CRIMINAL AUTHORITARIAN IN HISTORY
The USA has selected as its next leader a known criminal with transactional authoritarian views. This was in spite of several warnings and a previous presidency as an example. However, as we observe America’s political and business leaders, Donald Trump’s beliefs and behavior are not significantly outside the current norm.
In fact, Trump should be considered the ultimate product of a decades-long funding and propaganda effort by the wealthy (e.g., think-tanks, ‘educational’ efforts, legislative templates, lobbying, corrupting, etc.), and religious conservatives, since the 1950’s — and with increasing vigor since the 1980’s.
The wealthy have succeeded; they control the planet and the humans that reside upon it.
175,000 ultra-wealthy people with a net worth of over $50 million (i.e., the top 0.1% of the world's population), own 25% of the world's wealth. The top 1% of the world's population own 43% of the world's wealth. The bottom half of the world's population own only 1.3% of the world's wealth. In the United States, the top 1% of households own 54% of public equity markets and earned over 22% of the total Adjusted Gross Income. (Wikipedia, Inequality.org, Investopedia).
Ponder what the above information actually means.
Wealth buys power. Power results in control. The ultra-wealthy have, through their financial actions, effective control over what ideas are developed, what goods and services are produced, who has the opportunity to prosper and experience a good life, and who is allowed to fall into poverty, harm, or die.
Due to multinational markets, this control of the majority by the very few is worldwide. With each year the inequity of wealth and power increases.
It is unreasonable, unjust, and outrageous for so many to be under the control and the whims of so few. It is frankly insane. And yet, many educated people will defend it while suggesting that there is no better option.
There are more than enough assets on this planet for everyone to have the basic essentials and a reasonably good life of opportunity and enjoyment.
It’s a matter of the choices humans have made, and the systems by which we’ve implemented those choices.
A fairer world with less inequality and waste must become a goal for all people.
If greater equity isn’t achieved soon, especially considering the impact of climate change on the masses, I expect that as ever more resources and assets are accrued by a narcissistic few who view the rest of human population with disdain, that humanity will suffer stagnation and signifiant decline.
Greed and psychopathy among the wealthy-powerful has become an existential crisis for the human species.
DEGRADING THE ‘RULES-BASED INTERNATIONAL ORDER’
Various wars, including international (Russia vs Ukraine), within countries (Sudan, DRC), and between an acknowledged occupying power (Israel) and the citizens it is supposed to protect under international law (the Palestinians), continue with little decisive or meaningful action from the international community to live up to their UN treaty pledges and support the innocent victims of state and non-state violence and rights abuses.
Thanks to the actions, and non-actions, of the USA in breaking its own laws to continue to supply Israel with weapons of mass destruction and diplomatic cover at the UN, the USA has effectively and completely undermined the ‘rules-based international order’ it has promoted since WWII.
The powerful can now expect to murder innocent civilians, medical workers, and reporters, destroy civilian infrastructure and culture, plus starve and ‘ethnically cleanse’ populations (all crimes), with effective impunity, or an expectation of minimal ‘difficulties’ from abroad.
The rules-based international order, was always more of a facade than a reality. It was never fully realized (e.g., out of a fear of losing power, the USA would never commit to the international treaties that it encouraged other nations to sign up for, e.g., the International Court of Justice, etc.), and the UN was never permitted to make any decisions or take actions independent of the most powerful countries — especially with regard to acting in support of human rights and violence against innocents.
The UN has no independent ‘force’ to enforce internationally agreed treaties or judicial decisions.
Still, the existence of multinational institutions — when backed by powerful countries — brought a degree of stability and certainty to the world that allowed international investment and trade to thrive (if not always human rights).
The initial decline began in the 1950’s, with USA and UK backed coups (sometimes against democratically elected governments such as Iran in 1953), and their support for autocratic leaders — who offered favorable terms for corrupting foreign corporations to exploit the country’s assets in return for military support against domestic dissenters.
These acts of imperialism, in the service of corporate profits, merged and expanded with the wars against ‘communism’ (which included any group wanting to remove foreign-backed autocrats and ensure their country’s wealth actually benefitted the domestic population). The most devastating example of such actions was the Vietnam War (1955 to 1975).
More recently, the USA’s two wars against Iraq (1991, and 2003 to 2011) — both illegal under international law (Iraq never attacked the USA — who had actually been its authoritarian ally), with millions of civilians affected and harmed with impunity.
Other countries, not only Russia and China, were paying attention to this terrible example of ‘might makes right’ and ‘lies to justify a means to an end’, adjusted their own plans and actions.
Over the years, the powerful and wealthy, in the USA and other exploitative countries, seem to have forgotten that the rules based order is a primary factor in allowing America to maintain its profitable empire at a much lower cost — in treasure and lives — than if it would have to constantly use force to impose its economic desires upon the peoples of other countries.
It seems, in their arrogance and ignorance, the wealthy-powerful have taken the benefits of the rules-based order for granted, to the point where they think they can ignore or destroy it, yet still maintain the status quo.
Recently, the rules-based order has increasingly been degraded and delegitimized by the words and actions of powerful and wealthy political and business leaders in the most powerful countries (and less powerful countries supported by powerful countries).
The result is growing uncertainty and instability worldwide.
Some are now questioning whether many multinational post-WWII institutions — created presumably to help humanity forge a better world, but primarily to ensure profits for the wealthy (because there was never any significant effort to ‘fight for human rights’, etc.; profitable trade was always the primary concern) — might survive in any meaningful way.
This should be seen as a disaster for human societies everywhere.
The powerful are returning the world to a condition akin to the 20th century when powerful nations, engaged a geopolitical competition for wealth and influence, brought about WWI, WWI, etc. The previous world wars were so deadly because the industrial revolution had produced weapons technologies that were much more effective than in previous times.
Today, with the advancement of AI and robotics systems, and the apparent willingness of their funders to ‘move fast and break things’ when it comes to their use, it is very likely that the next world war may completely destroy human civilization as we know it.
Yet for some reason, the wealthy and powerful appear blind to that, and would rather promote a world of inequality, bullying, instability, fear, threats, conflict, and violence — presumably assessing (wrongly) that they will not be negatively affected by the forces they unleash.
As we enter 2025, the USA, the wealthiest and most powerful country the world has ever known, has revealed itself to be a corrupt oligarchy that holds Gerrymandered elections to choose candidates backed by wealthy elites — regardless of which party designation they maintain.
The other oligarchies and autocracies of the world are aware that a corrupt transaction-based government — which typically ignores any meaningful desires of an electorate (e.g., providing government housing to those in need or limiting the ability of private equity to make housing unaffordable) — are preferred over a government that tries to promote human rights, fairness, justice, democracy, plus honest and transparent acts.
However, it must be acknowledged that such niceties were mostly a MYTH that was fed to the American people by the wealthy elite to ensure their support for policies that exploited the weak — both foreign and domestic — while ensuring ever-increasing profits for the investor class.
Trump wants to make ‘deals’ internationally to gain accolades and boost his ego; apparently he desires a Nobel Peace Prize.
Russia may try to make a deal with Trump to cease military backing for Ukraine in an attempt to force capitulation (and betray a democratic people). China may try to make a deal with Trump to withhold (Western) military support for democratic Taiwan so it can seize it (note: Taiwan manufactures more than 90% of the world's most advanced chips and over 60% of all semiconductors).
Turkiye may try to get the USA to betray the Kurds (again) and dominate or ethnically cleanse them from Syria. Israel is likely to continue to receive weapons and diplomatic support from the USA so it can continue to arrest, torture, murder, and steal land away from the Palestinians; it may also try to suck Trump into fighting a war with Iran on its behalf — which he might undertake to satisfy the ‘Armageddon’ that his evangelical Christian base, many of whom are in the military, are seeking!
HOPE FOR THE NEAR FUTURE?
Democracy, and the human rights that typically come with it — including the essential rights of free speech and peaceful dissent — is of major importance to the masses. It is the only means they have of peacefully changing their leaders and with that, government policies, and their circumstances.
Those who support ‘strong man’ autocrats based on the fallacies of ‘stability’ and ‘efficiency’ are delusional. Supporters convince themselves that any negative effects of autocracy will always happen to someone else. However, unless YOU are the ‘Dear Leader’, understand that if you fall out of favor, for whatever reason (and you may not ever be aware why), bad things will happen to you!
Life in such a society is definitely not worth the possibility of timely trains and rapid infrastructure construction.
A few recent successes of anti-autocratic dissent have offered a modicum of hope for the masses worldwide. Autocrats in Sri Lanka (2022), Bangladesh (2024), and Syria (2024), and even a near-coup in South Korea (2024), have recently been overcome (the deciding factor is always whether the military supports the autocrat or the masses). Of course, it remains to be seen what governments will ultimately emerge in these countries and whether they will function free of foreign and/or corrupting influences.
While multinational actions to mitigate Climate Change have effectively been nullified by the supporters of the fossil fuels industry, various governments and grass-roots efforts have been implemented. Gradually, positive efforts are being made. Those who care about the impact of climate change on humans and other species must hope that such actions rapidly accelerate, and with that the spread of information, technological improvements, implementation, and declining costs.
At our present rate of mitigation, humanity is probably acting too slowly to prevent average global temperatures rising above a disastrous 3˚C.
The widely promoted idea that the ‘invisible hand’ of the free market (i.e., people motivated by self-interest), will (eventually) provide everything needed or desired, must be rejected as a manipulative lie in the service of the wealthy who profit from the status quo.
When the private sector refuses to resolve a problem in a democracy that the masses deem essential (e.g., the development of alternatives to fossil fuels, etc.), it is necessary for a benign government to step up and fund the solution — which may include implementation. Examples include: affordable and accessible shelter, nutritious food, healthcare, security, transport, R&D, or the development and provision of specific goods and services (e.g., green energy, etc.).
Giving public funds, in the form of subsidies and tax breaks to the private sector in the hope that they might choose to make an effort to produce what the government deems essential for its people is a mugs game. Trickle down doesn't work; it's a scam that benefits those profiting from the status quo.
For their own health and survival, the masses must start to realize that government provision is a valid option for otherwise unavailable or inaccessible essentials. The pro-corporate lie that government is bad at everything, while the private sector is always best, must be abolished from sensible thought.
Finally, we are seeing more people, especially young people, becoming aware and interested in informing themselves and taking action in support of human rights, democracy, equality, fairness, transparency, and justice.
If these numbers can rise sufficiently within the population to overcome those who support the ultra-wealthy (whether or not they realize it), then countries worldwide may begin to shift toward better societies and futures.
It will not be quick nor easy. Autocrats exploit insecurity, uncertainty, and fear to manipulate. Investors and corporations manipulate with threats to decamp if they aren’t given everything they desire — including the legal right for their products to harm the environment or people with impunity.
The rest of us can only take what actions we are able, plus share our views and what information remains available to us. We can also be kinder to one another.
Take care, and best wishes for your survival of year ahead!
— Kevin Davies, January 1, 2025.
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