Retrospect: 2023

Self-tutoring about the year(s) past: the tutor reflects….

In the final evening of 2023, I’m thinking back to the late 70s. Yesterday my wife and I were out shopping at a dollar store, and I noticed some chocolates smaller than they used to be. It brought me back to when my age was in single digits. Due to inflation, sizes were getting smaller. Sometimes it was embarrassing.

In the late 70s, people knew inflation was bad for them, and that it “couldn’t go on like this.” Yet, it did continue, at least until 1983, in Canada.

We might face a similar situation today. In the late 70s the Cold War was raging; the global battle between communism and capitalism made the headlines one way or another, it seemed, most days. Energy prices were a problem; I recall being taught in school to turn off lights you weren’t using, etc. They even entertained having us go to school in July instead of February to save on heating the schools that month. (At least where I lived, that never happened.)

Today, looking at the headlines, someone might ask, then, “What has been learned since 1980? What progress has been made?” I’d say progress has been made, but it’s subtle. It continues, sometimes just a trickle that can be momentarily overwhelmed by a deluge. Yet, I believe in it.

To all my fellow citizens – not only in North America, but all over the world – Happy New Year. I hope we continue to have these visits.

Source:

macrotrends.net