January 1, 2010 By Matthew Rothschild Happy New Year! I wish you joy and happiness, even when conditions around us can get us down. I wish you love and kindness, even in a world with so much hatred and brutality. I wish you peace, even as wars rage. I wish you justice, even amidst all the inequities. I wish you reverence for the Earth, even as our governments fail to grapple with global warming. I wish you a job you like, knowing that any job is hard to come by in this Great Recession. I wish you good health, physical and mental, because the health care [system] won’t guarantee it—not by a long shot. I wish you enough food to live on, and good food at that. No one should go hungry in America—or anywhere else in the world, nor be deprived of the pleasure of the [palate]. I wish you time, that most precious resource, to enjoy art, music, poetry, literature, theater, nature, and to engage in sports not only as a spectator but also as a participant. I wish you an end to resentments and grudges, which are poisons we take [when we view others as enemies not equals]. I wish you a community of progressive friends, who can join you in protest and in celebration. I wish you—and all of us—an end to the wars and hatreds that roil the planet. I wish, for all of us, the abolition of nuclear weapons… May 2010 be better than last year, and may you and all you love be safe.   ***   Reprinted (slightly modified) from The Progressive Magazine Matthew Rothschild, Editor