I’ve been a George Benson fan for as long as I can remember.
But I never thought I would quote the man’s lyrics when expressing my hopes for a new year.
I’ve always enjoyed most of Benson’s music, and at top of the list is a song called 20/20, from his 1985 album of the same name.
Every now and again I find myself humming the chorus of that song and more so in the last few weeks.
I’m pretty sure the legendary guitarist didn’t consider that his hit may become a musical zeitgeist; an anthem for the times, but considering the social and political shockwaves of the current decade, I reckon it is extremely topical.
I also hope that it proves to be a compass to guide us to better times.
This decade has given us broad and global social divisions, fuelled by the fear mongering from the mouths of our leaders.
These are people we put in power, based on the empty promises they made during election campaigns.
Their greatest eye-blind is that they are confidence tricksters, who were able to pull the wool over our eyes.
And for the most part, they have disappointed us in spectacular fashion, turning out to be bigoted, criminally narrow-minded and self-serving psychopaths.
And while that has almost always been the case throughout history, it feels like this decade has had more than its fair share.
Previously these maniacal men’s message would be restricted to a relatively small group of their followers in a specific region.
But in this digital age, their warped rhetoric spread like wildfire on social media.
As we kick off 2020 tomorrow, it’s Benson’s 20/20 hindsight vision that I pray for.
We cannot let egotistical men with delusions of grandeur and an uncanny knack for self-promotion take us for fools any more.
There is simply too much at stake.
This has been a decade where powerful men have managed to whip up frenzied support from a minority of small-minded people, and somehow managed to silence intelligence.
We cannot allow more Donald Trumps, Benjamin Netanyahus, Boris Johnsons, Jacob Zumas, Xi Jinpings, Geert Wilders’ and Vladimir Putins to come into power.
We cannot again allow populism to blind us and drown out the voices of compassionate wisdom and what we know as human beings to be right.
And make no mistake about it, it has always been the silence of good people, our complacency that has allowed evil to flourish.
So I hope this is the dawn of a decade that keeps us on our guard and in constant search of leaders with values that reflect our own.
We must learn to identify self-important individuals who seek power for the sake of power and who don’t possess a broad (or even narrow) sense of empathy.
All the times they have disappointed us, only to re-emerge with more insincerities and vague undertakings, needs to be a lesson for us going forward.
Every failed promise, every divisive comment, every exploitation has led us to where we are now.
And hopefully it was the salve that caused the scales to fall from our eyes, giving us the 20/20 vision we need, to make better choices going forward.
Because hindsight is both a perfect science and a tool to help us gain foresight.
To that aim, the chorus from Benson’s song is cause for reflection:
“If I knew back then what I know now
If I understood the what, when, why and how
Now it’s clear to me
What I should have done
But hindsight is 20/20 vision”
All the best for 2020 and the new decade. I hope that the new year starts on a high note. Tackle all your dreams and chip away at it consistently, until it becomes your reality.