2011 A Year in Review
It’s hard to write about the past twelve months without emotions and nostalgia creeping in. It is hard to give all equal weight and coverage.
This year three men died who collectively are responsible for 1000’s of deaths, Osama Bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong il. To many this year may be seen as a year of liberation but for those on the ground it is seen as the beginning of instability and corruption.
The Arab Spring showed the world the strength of human will power and also the advances in media. From Tunisia to Saudia Arabia, ordinary people stood up for what they felt was just and right. The wave of camera fones, tweets, facebook and youtube clips showed a wider world audience the struggle and desires of oppressed masses who felt there was more to life than being held back.
The phone hacking scandal Britain sent shockwaves that have led further distrust and hatred for a Media that focused more on Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor than it did on the Brazilian mudslides, Mexican gun war, the nobel peace prize and the Chilean uprising combined.
Japan’s disaster and the Eurozone meltdown have deservedly shown those of us in the past twelve months the frailty of our existence and the dangers that exist from both ourselves and mother nature. The London riots, Wall Street protest and the Norwegian massacre showed discontent in the western world as much as the Arab world and displays global discontent and upset at those in power and at social and economic restrictions.
Middleton, Leveson, Strauss-Kahn, Bauchmann and Bieber are all names that are now known to many while OMG, Sexting and Mankini joined the English Language.
The world’s population hit 7 billion while many wonderful and talented people passed away among them Steve Jobs, Joe Frazier, Amy Winehouse, Dr Kervorkian, Liz Taylor, Christopher Hitchens, Clarence Clemons, Bubba Smith, Gary Speed, Peter Falk, Betty Ford, Vaclav Havel and Socrates.
This year like all was full of trials and tribulations, successes and disasters, births and deaths. When those who look back at the annals of history and view 2011 they will see a year when so many of the world’s nations and it’s people said enough is enough and stood up for what they felt was just, right and equal. From Bin Laden to Bieber , MMXI is a year when a lot happened and a lot more is yet to come. Bring on 2012, End of the World or not life moves on and so must we.
Review of the year on Forge Radio with British Journalist Marcus Liddell and I.
James P. Mahon 