A new world order

This 2024, what we thought we would only see in a futuristic movie is now here. And it is a mere five years until 2030, when we should have solved the challenges brought about by climate change. Yes, we must all think of 2030 like we thought of the year 2000 or the big scare of the millennium bug. Days before the clock struck midnight announcing the year 2000, we thought our computers would die, or something would explode somewhere near us.

Notice how we have accepted or started to accept many changes in our lifestyle since the pandemic caused lockdowns. We now find it oh so normal to not carry cash, and instead pay with e-wallets. We also now have to go online for almost anything that we need: ordering food, paying for services, booking a doctor’s appointment, among many others.

The pandemic period 2020-2022, almost three years in total, taught us many new things to embrace and to learn to do despite our resistance to change. The pandemic changed us and changed how consumers behave, changed how we react to disease and changed even the way people work or play. Do you agree?

Now that a new year is upon us, it may be worthwhile to sit down and reflect, think about what we still cannot accept as reality and go with the flow so our lifestyles may not be restricted. We need to think about what we cannot change anymore and just move on to the next year with ease.

At the end of 2023 I met a few people who made me realize further that habits must change if we are to leave a greener planet to the next generations. At 37 years of age, this professor, lecturer and practitioner of organic agriculture shared with us how he has embraced teaching about Nature. While he wanted to be a barista in his college years, one thing led to another, which brought him to the agriculture path until he finally went on to get a Doctorate in Permaculture Design and Sustainability. Yes, at this age below 40 he can create change, positive change, among his peers and everyone younger in his school.

But it does not stop there. He also became a master at Drone Technology and is using this new way, not for vlogging or taking beautiful wedding photos, but to “see” Nature improve as man repairs what