2023 will be an amazing year.
It will be a fantastic year.
The pandemic is almost over, and science says it ain't gonna return with anywhere near as
much ferocity.
SARS-CoV-2 has been beaten.
You either have immunity from your vaccine or your past infection and even if you get
it for the first time in 2023, you’ll statistically be fine.
You can breathe easy in ‘23 when it comes to the dreaded lurgy.
2023 will be the first year since 2020 you don’t have to be worried about covid.
You can cast it aside like a snot-filled rag.
There will likely be more variants, but they won't be any worse than the seasonal cold
or flu.
It’s not as if a cold ever bothered you before.
Sure, people die from the flu, but people die from swallowing hotdogs, too, and you
can’t get enough of them.
2023 is the year of relaxation regarding covid.
You can let your guard down.
What didn’t kill you did indeed make you stronger.
You also now know much more about how viruses work.
You have adopted better hygiene practices, and you got to know your mom and dad at last.
Of course, there is that darned prospect of “long covid,” but as we make this show,
new treatments have looked promising in studies.
As one media website said, “Finally, there is a glimmer of hope for long covid treatment.”
As things stand, it looks as though that glimmer will get much brighter next year.
So, thing number one putting on a positive spin on 2023 is the absence of that awful
virus, or at least the absence of it being a formidable killing machine.
Nonetheless, that’s the bottom reason on our list of goodness for ‘23.
We need to talk about the fact that many extra people kicked the bucket in 2022, and as we
make this show, scientists are still unsure why.
There were certainly a lot of excess deaths from the middle to the end of this year in
quite a lot of countries.
That sucks, but you shouldn’t let it worry you.
We can’t say for sure what’s happened yet.
Was it the hot summer in Europe?
Was it long covid playing its dirty tricks?
Or was it a consequence of people staying in their houses for months, eating competitively,
drinking like the Pope, and not being able to see a doctor about that weird lump growing
on their neck?
It might have been a bit of all three.
We know from various governments that there was indeed a disturbing trend of excess deaths
in many countries, but let’s face it, could it have been any different?
It’s been widely reported that many people didn’t get the medical care they needed
over the last few years.
We know that livers were soused with statistically more booze than in previous years.
There is lots of evidence of this damaging bodies.
Just one report we found said, “Elevated liver enzyme levels were observed in about
83% of COVID-19 patients who required hospitalization.”
We know for sure that stress levels increased for many people, which is terrible for your
immune system if those levels stay like that for a long time.
We know many people suffered from lockdown depression, a black dog that stayed awake
all night and barked and bit at the feet of the incarcerated during the day.
Studies have already suggested that lockdowns were harmful as well as helpful.
“Stay Home, Save Lives” was the mantra you heard every day, but it turned out that
staying home presented its own unique dangers.
One study from Johns Hopkins said lockdowns were worse than the pandemic itself.
Other studies have disagreed that the lockdowns caused more harm than good, so it’s a debate
that will continue for quite some time, but what’s certain is that lockdowns took their
toll on people’s health.
The British Heart Foundation, as we said in the very bleak sister show of this video,
said 30,000 Brits had “needlessly” died from heart disease during the lockdown.
Just imagine how many people’s health suffered during those harsh months of not going out.
It’s hardly shocking that there were excess deaths at the close of the pandemic.
But look at it this way.
Right now, that is, in November 2022, scientists are studying those excess deaths.
Politicians and medical experts throughout Europe are asking for investigations.
Today’s news is talking about it.
One expert says liver disease and diabetes led to excess deaths.
Another says heatwaves.
Another report said it’s collateral damage from people not going to the hospital.
It all adds up.
At some point in 2023, we will know far more about this issue than we do now.
Scientists and healthcare workers will be able to address the issues, tell people what
to do, and advise the government on what should happen if there are lockdowns, God forbid,
in the future.
In November, a doctor speaking to the Spectator said, “The silence around non-Covid excess
deaths is fuelling conspiracy theories – the longer it goes on, the worse it's getting.
If the authorities don't properly address and discuss the issue, this will only further
undermine trust in public health.”
The pressure is on.
Academics, clinicians, and even charities have been stamping their feet and demanding
investigations, and so it will happen for sure.
That doctor we just quoted also said, “Current levels of excess deaths are running higher
than in the pandemic years.
We had almost daily press conferences then – why can't we have just one now?”
He’s just one person in a long list of people saying stuff like that, so we are sure governments
are going to get on top of this issue.
It just might take until 2023 to see the positive results.
Humanity evolves.
Science improves.
It’s been a crap time, but what humans have learned will set us up for an easier time
in the future.
We believe that the increase in deaths won’t trend as we head past winter and further into
2023.
Unfortunately, in many parts of Europe, more people will die during winter because they
cannot afford to heat their homes.
The war, which we’ll come to soon, has caused an energy crisis.
Scientists are saying this will result in more excess deaths, so winter could be grim,
but the Spring will be the starting point when things get much better.
The rainbow will come out next year.
Meanwhile, folks will understand that they should take good care of their health.
That health checks are necessary.
Eating the right food is necessary.
Exercise is key to good health.
We will get a handle on this excess death thing come Spring of ‘23.
We will move on and be better for it.
You, dear viewers, are much stronger and more resilient than you used to be.
This will sink in sometime next year.
You see, children don’t grow up to be strong adults if they’re pampered too much by their
parents.
We get our strength through adversity and resilience.
What has happened to us these last few years will eventually pay dividends.
Like all creatures of this earth that survive the hardest of times, we will adapt.
In 2023, you will be a better iteration of yourself.
Why?
Because you are a survivor!
You are an adaptation of this past crapness.
But we guess the fear of getting covid or post-covid sickness has been pretty low in
your hierarchy of fears for some time already.
You updated that triangle of tragedies ages ago.
It’s the war that bothers you now.
But we think this war is going to be a turning point for humanity.
As terrible as it is, it’s going to make the world a better place in time.
2023 will be the year of profound social and political changes.
You are the generation of galvanization.
Don’t listen to the naysayers.
Hear us out on this, dear viewers.
It’s true that in 2022, humans took themselves to the precipice of global catastrophe.
It wasn’t Apocalypse Now but Apocalypse Wow, because we never expected to be in this
position.
We thought the days of cowering in our kitchen cupboards over the thought of nuclear bombs
exploding above our heads were finished in the 80s.
The nuclear dread has come back, and we can’t argue with that.
But we really don’t think a nuclear war will happen.
We also believe this fear, a righteous fear, a totally reasonable fear, will be good for
us.
It’s making us think about life on a larger scale, about the survival of the human species.
It’s gonna bring love into your hearts, viewers.
We understand that Putin is often called a madman, an irrational bloke with delusions
of grandeur about imperialist Russia.
But let’s just remember that he isn’t mad at all.
He’s actually very smart.
He’s canny and cunning, something he’s shown time and again.
Some folks only think he’s crazy because they imbibed a little bit too much propaganda.
You can’t have a war without propaganda.
Everyone does it.
Putin revels in it.
But the West’s tabloidy thing about him being crazy is simply not true.
As one analyst said in 2022, “Putin isn’t mad – he’s following a long-established
great power playbook for conquest.”
Or, as the Washington Post said when talking about his ostensible recklessness, “Putin
surely doesn’t want things to reach an apocalyptic level — he, too, has children and a country
he deeply loves.”
He certainly does adore his children, Maria and Katerina, and anyone that’s studied
his life knows he adores Russia as a nation.
That might be part of the problem regarding his imperialistic ambitions.
But trust us, he does not want an apocalypse.
What he needs is an off-ramp, some way of getting out of this war.
We doubt he will pull out himself without that off-ramp, and we don’t think Russia
will be pushed completely out of Ukraine.
There’s a chance he might be ousted internally within the next year, but it’s a small chance.
He has too much support from the inside.
What does this mean for the rest of us in 2023?
We have told you before that some analysts are saying that in the worst-case scenario,
the Russian forces start accruing so many losses that Putin uses tactical nukes on the
battlefield, not strategic ones designed to fly far from Europe.
In this hideous scenario, NATO, with weapons galore, hits back.
Putin then thinks his nuke bases will be attacked, so he strikes first.
That, dear viewers, is how the world as we know it ends.
Does anyone seriously think Putin would buy into that plan?
As we said, he is not mad.
He is not as vicious or inhumane as some media make out.
Just before he took hold of the reins in Russia, the US media showered him with compliments,
such as when a writer in New York Times Magazine said he was “utterly professional,” “a
man we can do business with,” and a “liberal, humane, and decent European.”
We’re not saying he is those things, but he’s no Adolf Hitler, either, and he’s
not anywhere near as demented as Stalin.
Diplomacy is the only way out of this war, and next year diplomacy will come.
The hawks of Washington, London, and Moscow, with Ukraine in the middle, will have to come
to some agreement.
There is just no other way.
It will happen.
President Joe Biden will step in, since Ukraine won’t ever give up of its own volition,
and a deal will be struck that leaves Putin and Russia with a modicum of dignity and the
Ukrainians close to content.
It’s the only way.
This is the turning point.
The deal is just the beginning.
We see great changes in ‘23, and mostly because of you, the young generation.
You see, you are not like the generations of the past.
War is far from normal for you.
You have so much valid information at your fingertips that you are not so susceptible
to propaganda.
The days of endless wars are coming to an end, and that’s because you will usher in
a more peaceful period of human history.
You know there are many sides to a story.
You know that the US experiment to spread liberal democracy around the world for decades
has led to murderous dictators being put in power.
You know this experiment has led to secret wars and pointless wars where millions of
innocent citizens have been killed.
You know its left in its wake instability almost every time it’s happened.
You also understand the disaster that was the Soviet Union when it also tried to spread
its ideology around.
You have read about the horrors of the gulag, the mass executions, the widespread fear and
unhappiness, and the total collapse of humane reasoning.
And, of course, you remember the days when the Europeans conquered lands, spilling buckets
of blood while talking about God and nation.
What they really meant was money.
In 2022, quite a few political scientists said something has to change.
We must evolve from this constant warring with each other.
Russia, the US, and China must sort things out if we are to have sanity in this world
of ours.
As we make this show, many analysts, experts, and political scientists are talking about
major changes in the world.
They see two situations: Nuclear war or a different kind of global politics from now
on.
This war in Ukraine has made people think.
The threat of nuclear war has compelled many people to understand the fragility of life,
a life that shouldn’t hang on the whims of various countries’ military-industrial
complexes and their ever-supportive politicians.
We were warned in the past by Henry Kissinger about the military-industrial complex getting
out of control.
Even though he failed terribly, Obama said he would push back this wrecking machine.
It will happen all over the world.
The Ukraine war has knocked some sense into us.
2023 is going to be the year of the antiwar movement for all the big powers.
As some political realists have pointed out in the US, we are currently in an era when
the world’s sole superpower is about to have a partner.
The hegemon that is the USA will be caught up.
China will be just as powerful.
What was a unipolar world in power politics will become a bipolar one.
As those realists have said, either the US and China agree to not spread their ideology
around the world, or a disagreement will take place that will eventually lead to a nuclear
war where much of the world perishes.
We know this now.
We’ve woken up to the instability of such politics.
2022 has taught us a lesson, and in 2023 we will heed that lesson.
As the writer of the book “The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and
Resolute Restraint,” put it about the US: “Defend existing allies and the key elements
of today’s global economy, yes.
But also forgo further alliance expansion, ambitious war plans, or the sense that we
can somehow still do it all.
Finding words to convey this mixed message in an inspiring and confident way — and,
even more importantly, implementing it well — will not be easy.”
Many experts in the US are now more than ever asking for restraint in terms of invading
other countries and intervening in other nations’ politics.
The only other option is a global catastrophe.
As Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
results.”
The same goes for Russia, or China, or any other nation for that matter that wants to
meddle abroad.
In this realist version of events, militaries will remain strong, but endless wars will
stop.
Ukraine is the starting point.
All that cash being taken out of the coffers of nations to give to the arms industry will
go elsewhere.
The money will be used to lessen the number of food banks, to get the homeless off the
streets; to rebuild those ghettos where life expectancy is 20 years less than a few miles
away.
Arms cash will go into infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
You’re going to see people crying out for this just after the Ukraine war ends in 2023.
Russia has to be reprimanded, but its people should not suffer because of Putin’s folly.
Let’s remember how much suffering Russians have gone through already, under Stalin, in
those famines, and at the fall of the Soviet Union when gangsters and oligarchs pilfered
all the cash from the country.
We know what happens when punishment is supposed to be humiliating; when it is aimed at crushing
a populace.
When that kind of thing happens, you get insecure failed artists with terrible mustaches popping
up and promising to save the nation.
No, the Ukraine war will end sensibly next year, and when it does, many of you guys will
seek peace on earth or as much peace as possible, because you know what will happen if Russia
is crushed.
You also understand only too well how things will go if China becomes more powerful and
the US doesn’t stop interfering in every part of the globe.
Something has to change, and change it will in 2023 when diplomacy ends the war in Ukraine.
You will be part of the change.
Your kids will look back on those Boomers and Gen Xs and wonder what the hell was wrong
with them.
The end of the Ukraine war will be the starting point of continual progress.
That most expensive exercise in futility, war, will be replaced with shared innovation
between all nations; for the greater good of the world.
Creation will surpass destruction.
Multilaterally we will deal with environmental issues.
We (the world) will respect our differences and never again attempt the bloody idiocy
of spreading our own ideology.
It’s not as if we are perfect anyway, so let all nations concentrate on social stability
and harmony without trying to change their government.
That goes for all countries.
If that happens and certain nations prosper, perhaps in a democracy, wouldn’t it compel
other nations to follow suit?
You don’t have to spread ideology if that ideology is working since other nations will
want the same.
Many political scientists have said this in 2022.
It’s not just us with our rose-tinted specs issuing such words.
A Carnegie Europe report said a while ago: “Europe must work very closely with the
United States in making arms control a major issue.
This is about preventing the new emerging bipolar world from becoming locked in a dangerous,
costly, and unpredictable new arms race in an already potentially volatile region.”
That was said before the Ukraine war.
It seems no one listened to the warning.
But the Ukraine situation has made you think.
You know what is good for this world.
You are a generation to usher in a more peaceful planet.
You know that diplomacy has to win out, and you know never again can there be a threat
of nuclear war.
China and Russia are not your enemies, and they should know the US is not theirs.
2023 will also be a year of picking up pieces and rebuilding parts of Ukraine that have
been devastated.
In 2023, we will have to deal with the energy crisis, the refugee crisis, and, most of all,
addressing the antipathy of nations.
The military-industrialists of the world, some people say, should be caged like the
wild tigers they are.
Not literally, of course.
The trillions of dollars the US alone has spent on war and conflicts could have been
spent on creating a better society.
The 100s of billions spent by the entire world on the Ukraine war could have done wonders
for the most vulnerable on this earth.
If the Soviet Union had not robbed itself or gone for broke with communism, Russia and
other countries would likely be flourishing today.
These are the things people will be saying in 2023.
War is money down the toilet of humanity, flushed into an ocean of blood, and as always,
the people that turn the handle are not the ones that get flushed into oblivion.
People will freeze in their unheated homes this winter all because their country wants
to blow the limbs off a young stranger who doesn’t even know what he’s fighting for.
Does that really make sense in the bigger scheme of things?
You will know it doesn’t because you’ve been to the precipice of disaster.
You never want to return.
You will understand that grumpy German philosopher when he said, “He who fights with monsters
should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.”
You will not become a monster.
You won’t let it get to that, and hopefully, neither will the people you call the enemy.
The other option is the end of the world.
2023 could be a turning point in history when more than a century after WWI, in the midst
of ongoing conflicts and interventions, we realize that war in our time, with so much
deadly firepower belonging to so many states, can never happen.
It’s time for lasting cooperation.
The Infographics Show team wishes you a happy, fruitful, and, most of all, safe 2023.
Now you need to remind yourself of what world war looks like in “How World War 2 Would
Have Ended if Atomic Bombs Were Never Dropped.”
Or, see how thing might go down in “World War 3 (Hour by Hour).”