Holiday season musings

As I write the wind outside is blowing up a storm. Here in north London it is wet and blustery, with wind speeds forecast to increase as the day progresses. The upside, if there is one, is that it is unseasonably warm for Winter. That English weather has become less predictable is surely uncontestable. However, in my childhood English weather was said to be highly changeable. Around the time I was seven or so, I have a strong recollection of being on holiday in Margate. I was standing on one side of the street in the bright, dry sunshine while there was rain on the other side of the street. I have never experienced such an amazing dichotomy of weather since!

The weather in that street in Margate is a suitable metaphor for the planet we inhabit. While a great deal of the Earth is a strong parallel for the sunny side of the street, too much of the planet we call home is suffering from inclement weather. While western Europe has enjoyed the sunshine and not suffered war on its own soil since 1945, parts of Africa and the Middle East continue to seek shelter from the vicissitudes of war and turmoil. History suggests that famine has now largely been abolished in much of the northern hemisphere; war has not yet been abolished but has largely disappeared from vast areas of planet Earth. The seasonal message of PEACE ON EARTH still seems a long way off, but I am optimistic that humanity is at least moving in the right direction.

One of the causes for my optimism stems from my current reading: Grand Pursuit, by Sylvia Nasar. Subtitled "The Story of the People Who Made Modern Economics: A Story of Economic Genius", this book starts by reminding the reader of the dire state of human material existence prior to the end of World War II. It makes for salutary reading, and is a strong indication of the almost infinite achievements which humanity is capable of when we put our minds and our will to work. The economic problems we face today are more how we deal with a world of plenty (as evidenced by ever-increasing obesity levels) rather than how we deal with a lack of resources, and making them go round. To some degree we have begun to conquer the economic problem: how to make scarce (finite) resources available for almost-infinite human desires. The key to this has been human ingenuity. While physical resources are finite, the human imagination is infinite in scope, allowing us to find increasingly better and more productive ways in which to utilise those resources. Long may this continue, until such a time as we invent the replicator, a feature of Star Trek, enabling us to create something almost out of nothing. 3D printers seem to be the beginning of such a device.

It is also the season when it is customary to be optimistic. May I wish each and every one of you all of the compliments of the season. May you enjoy the holiday season surrounded by friends and family. And, more importantly perhaps, may 2014 be the year in which you go a long way to fulfilling your potential, and the world finds itself a long way nearer to peace on earth and goodwill among all of us.