Well it’s 2025.

Happy New Year.

I read a partially amusing to me article this morning. Mostly local and state elected officials i.e. politicians telling a local reporter their New Year’s resolutions. Some honest and heartfelt and one in particular I found ridiculous and bobbleheadish:

“My New Year’s Resolution is to write more. I think it’s so important to give yourself time to create. For me, writing has always been a way to make sense of the world and what’s happening around me, and I hope that if I give myself that time, I can create something that readers might connect with one day.”

So I have to ask then was her note to me November 10th a work of fiction?

Yeah that was the day this elected official, a politician, contacted me directly to take down a post about election decorum at meetings featuring her latest petite tantrum. Not the first time over her political career is it?

No I am not sharing what she wrote but given the sound byte above, it makes a person wonder doesn’t it?

Look woman, stop trying so hard. We get it, you have higher political aspirations. You tried and backed out of running for State Rep in 2022 right? Latest rumor mill is you want to run for County Commissioner? Be real and do better. You are not there and you need depth. But hey I bet you won’t read this post either right? Just like you did not read the last one that you contacted people I know as well as myself to take down?

And then there was this one:

“My goal for the New Year is to become a more intentional consumer, reduce waste, and find more ways to recycle, reuse and upcycle. I am working to decentralize my household from large corporate interests like Amazon, shop more local, and with companies that treat their workers with dignity and pay living wages and benefits. I’ve been trying to break away from fast fashion culture and love shopping local consignment shops and thrifting. I have been a host for a local CSA, for going on 11 years, and also have found some amazing local flower growers that I love to support.”

Ummmkay. So do you really really think all more localized companies treat their employees well? They don’t. It’s not just Amazon and it is the game of whoever gets the most bucks wins, isn’t it? Define living wages as in how do companies define it and how do employees define it and does it include decent benefits? Be real about this, not sound byte-ish.

As for thrifting and upcycling, etc , a lot of us have been doing this for years. A lot of this is driven by common sense and a desire for things that were better made, better looking and durable.

Supporting CSAs? Always a great idea to know where things come from and are grown. This is another reason why local farmers need more support. As in real farmers.

One way this New Year’s resolution making state elected official and others in Harrisburg could do this is to enact an act of the state constitution in 2025 and comprehensively update the Municipalities Planning Code.

I mean if municipalities themselves are supposed to reexamine and update their comprehensive planning every couple of years don’t you think 56 years is long enough? Or what about our communities? Don’t we deserve not only more open space and less development and more historic preservation, but real protections from pipelines, data warehouses, hydrogen hubs, warehouses everywhere etc?

Listen politicians, don’t just talk the change, be the change. Be the people we actually thought we elected.

Now whenever I write something like this somewhere a politician gets pissy. In 2025 I still fail to see why as I am just one opinion over here. Why do you care when you say you don’t care? Political puzzle for the ages.

Over all, the New Year’s resolution making in this article were very heart felt and earnest and who a lot of these people truly are. They walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk. So I am NOT being a Scrooge on this bus. I am just saying we need more than words from elected officials to read on New Year’s Day. Some keep their word, some shall we say, rearrange them.

The best politicians we have locally, regionally, and even nationally are the ones who don’t forget who they are and the ordinary people who helped them on their journey once they get to office.

And some who are no longer in office need to find a way to retire gracefully, don’t they?

I found an interesting thing on CNN about New Year’s resolutions and their origins.

CNN: The ancient origins of New Year’s resolutions and how the tradition has changed

That article is worth a read.

Did I make any resolutions? Does it matter? Ok maybe just one:

I resolve to continue to not suffer fools gladly in 2025.

I also resolve to continue to be myself.

That’s all I have got…for now.

Happy 2025!