Welcome to 2025
| “ | In the meantime, may I wish you in advance every happiness for the New Year. If it’s anything like the old one, I, for my part, would sooner consign it to the devil. | ” |
| — Karl Marx, from a letter to Engels, 1861 | ||
I wish that I felt like saying “happy new year,” but I live in the United States, a dying empire that wants to take the world with it. Somehow, thathappy is elusive. Someone who is much smarter than me once said that imperialism is the inevitable outcome of capitalism, and that’s where we’ve been since Reagan. And despite the optimism of those who have been brainwashed on the right, I think we’re in for much darker times. As I lay in bed after ringing in the new year, I saw a meme that suggested the only way America will truly change is through revolution. Maybe the first shot has been fired already? The most important war right now is class war. Perhaps people are waking up to that fact.
For some reason, I woke up on my own exactly at 06:00. With little sleep and anxiety about the new semester beginning next week, here I am writing a journal entry rather than preparing my classes. I have a lot to do. I had intended on redesigning my online section of ENGL 2111, but I don’t think I’ll have the time to tackle that this semester. I have to do something different for my ENGL 1102 course, too, as this is the first semester I’ve taught it where I don’t think students will be able to get the book I use at a reasonable price. In previous semesters, it could be purchased for a couple of bucks via Amazon, but the cheapest used price today is $42. It’s not an issue to give them PDFs, but even though I ask them to print the stories to use in class, it is a constant struggle to get them to comply. I just can’t stand it when students come to class with nothing but their phones. I’m so tired of these predictable battles.
I have no resolutions this year because I think the world needs to get better first. Yeah, I have a few goals, but fuck resolutions. I’m going to try to focus on the real luxuries in life: time, health, a quiet mind, the ability to travel (especially on a motorcycle), rest without guilt, a good night’s sleep, calm and “boring” days, meaningful conversations, home-cooked meals, people I love, and people who love me.
So, here we go. Make sure you strap in.