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Thursday, 31 December 2009

WHEN THE PAST PRESENTLY INFORMS THE FUTURE

It is that time of the year again when individuals, organizations and even countries get to reflect on their past achievements and failures and usher in future prospects.

Media outlets are now awash with not only what has captured the local and international news agenda in 2009, but also the entire first decade of the 21st century.

The gist of all these flashbacks, which mostly depict where the world has come from, through what turmoil it has endured and what triumphs it has witnessed, is an affirmation of the resilience of the human spirit.

Yet ironically perhaps, one gets the feeling that nothing really much has fundamentally changed as far as human frailties are concerned.

You begin to realize that indeed, time is one inter-related continuum, if you consider that  today is yesterday's tomorrow and today is tomorrow's yesterday,


The past lords over the present and the future 

And whereas what happens today or what will happen tomorrow can never affect or change what happened yesterday, what happened yesterday can still influence what happens today and tomorrow.

A pretty obvious observation but one that is chronically overlooked and which frequently results in valuable opportunities to make amends or take precautions being ignored.

The. U.S. with the world's most sophisticated intelligence gathering apparatus overlooks information in its possession and issues a Visa to a person in its own terrorism watchdog.

And undeterred by the mayhem and bloodshed that they set in motion in 2007/2008, politicians in Kenya are already psychologically preparing their supporters for another round of blood-letting, in the 2012 General Election.

So yes. Make all your New Year resolutions.

But for a better view of the future, take a good look at the past.

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