In assessment and overview of the recent macro-climate in the world over the past 365 days (give or take), Oxford Dictionary has recently named “Toxic” as its Word of The Year. Though not surprising, what with the literal and metaphoric rise in poisonous political demagoguery, malevolent attitudes toward migrants and the latest patriarchal reckoning that has come about due to the #MeToo Movement, this rather bleak outlook would have one to believe that throwing the whole year away or at least getting through the next five weeks unscathed would be the most viable solution for the repugnance that has been described as 2018.
But to say that this year has only been mercilessly debauched would be a slightly inaccurate appraisal. I mean, the world was blessed with technologically savvy and intellectually shrewd representation from Wakanda, the holy matrimony of Ginger and Cinnamon British Royalty and (most of the) G7 leaders agreeing to work together to embrace environmental protections, gender equity and the defense of democracies currently being undermined by destabilizing entities. Not only that, but for those of us with breath in our lungs, we have been given another opportunity to live a little bit of a better life than we attempted yesterday.
So while we can certainly agree that this year has left a lot to be desired, let us also be grateful that 2018 has become a benchmark from which to measure our comparative growth against this time next November and hopefully our political, social and financial ascensions in years to come.
