Alfred Dawes | Dark clouds and rewriting history

As 2022 rolls into 2023, we are still reconciling that last year was not 2019. The World Cup circus is over, and the bread is stale. Now it’s back to reality. Winter is coming. The printing of money and the stimulus from governments the world over led to transient inflation becoming entrenched, and the greatest threat in the eyes of central banks. Now, the rate increases will do what they were intended to do: create the hardships not spoken about that are necessary for taming the inflation monster. The proxy war in Europe rages on, with the doomsday clock oscillating close to midnight. And COVID-19 is ravaging the Chinese population and ever threatening the rest of the lockdown weary world.

The lifting of the restrictions that were imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19 were welcomed the world over. It seemed at last that we were seeing the back of the pandemic. The maskless football fans in Qatar were, however, edited out of the Chinese media coverage of the event. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could not afford to let the masses see that the world had moved on while they were being subjected to draconian zero COVID-19 measures. They were not successful.

Eventually the fatigue of the last three years set in, and the mass protests led to a one hundred and eighty degree turn in the national approach towards the pandemic.

As expected, with lax measures, the virus spread like wildfire, with some estimates of one million infections per day. Some models predict over one million people dead by the time the virus burns through the population. Other countries are bracing for the spread of new strains across their borders. This is very likely as the greater the number of hosts, the greater the chances of mutations occurring. Only time will tell if COVID-19 will resurface for the rest of the world in 2023.

WHO WOULD JOIN NATO?

If a NATO-membered Ukraine was looked at as an existential threat to Russia, what then would be a Russian loss in Ukraine? Who would then join NATO? The lavishing of aid and weapons on Ukraine will only delay the inevitable armistice that will result in Russia being able to claim victory through greater autonomy for the Donbas region. Ironically, that is the very outcome that the Minsk Agreements desired. The implementation of the Minsk Agreement was the very platform on which Ukraine president Vlodomyr Zelenskyy was elected. One U turn, a devastating war, and hundreds of thousands of casualties later, I believe we will come full circle to this outcome.

The alternative will be an escalation that will leave Europe a wasteland. Nuclear war has always threatened the existence of our civilisation. This is probably the closest we have ever come to an all-out nuclear conflict between the biggest nuclear powers and their allies. The loose rhetoric about pre-emptive strikes does nothing to ease this threat. Ukraine will not be an Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires. The Russians believe that NATO on their doorstep is a matter of life and death. They will not roll over and play dead. The idea of NATO supplying the weapons, and Ukraine the casualties, will continue until the government sponsors are forced to the negotiating table. The earlier this happens the brighter 2023 will be.

Here in Jamaica we will continue to play politics with crime and health as we always do. The singular approach of states of emergency (SOE) will not solve our problems simply because of the tremendous opportunity costs they carry. The efforts of the Government, Opposition and the security forces could be better spent on collaborating on reforms of the judicial system, the police force, and the proceeds of crime act. Unfortunately, we are stuck in an SOE loop that will continue into next year while the moral fabric of our society continues to decay. Unchecked corruption at the highest levels are a beacon for others at all levels to hustle the system. Where is the just man to say enough is enough?

OPTIMISTIC

I am, in spite of the dark clouds gathered, still optimistic about 2023. I am hopeful that there will be some disclosure now that conspiracy theorists have been vindicated by the mainstream acceptance of what they were scorned for just a few years ago. The Netflix documentary series Ancient Apocalypse has brought to the forefront of our consciousness the theory that an ancient, prehistoric civilisation once ruled the world. This ties in with teachings from the Bible as well as the myths and legends of major and minor religions the world over. The remnants of this culture that were never fully explained by modern archaeologists are now being investigated further.

Will we rewrite our history to include the nephilim and the gods of old as beings that really existed? Will we get more unredacted evidence about the unidentified aerial phenomena that have been reported as being unlikely of terrestrial origin based on their flight capabilities? The disclosures from the Pentagon have admitted that they don’t think that the craft are from other countries and are definitely not theirs. So where are they from? Maybe 2023 is when we will find out.

With so much going on at once, it is easy to become anxious. But what good will that do if we are living in a world over which we have little control? So eat, drink, be merry, and above all, give love this Christmas!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Dr Alfred Dawes is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and CEO of Windsor Wellness Centre. Follow him on Twitter @dr_aldawes. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and alfred.dawes@gmail.com.