Mankind watches in anguish and trepidation as a dramatic and virus-infested 2021 comes to an end. A global disaster such as a full scale nuclear conflict, a new pandemic in 2022 or a new generation of artificial intelligence could have grave consequences for the wellbeing of humanity in the years ahead.

Man’s quest for superiority has made this era of earth’s history the most perilous ever. 2021 was a brutal year for humanity. Covid-19 snatched the lives of 5,3 million people globally. We lost our loved ones under harrowing circumstances.

Livelihoods were lost, economies were shattered, poverty enveloped the world. The weapons of war continued to dismember innocent civilians in an orgy of destruction that graphically displayed man’s savagery.

Political tensions reached fever pitch as powers large and small displayed the military fangs in an act of crude intimidation. The advent of powerful new weapons are on hair trigger alert as humanity dances with death as leaders play political chess and military roulette.

Our fragile planet is in utter turmoil. Leaders are determined to cling to power at any cost. Famine, wars, poverty and deadly climate change confront us daily on an epic scale. The world is facing a financial crisis of massive proportions as nations gear up for a total trade war.

Violence must come to an end. There is no greater danger to political thought than inertia. The world is never static, and certainly history is not.

The belief that the only way to fight aggression is by applying more aggressive methods has led to the arms race between the great powers.

This competition to increase the weapons of war has only brought mankind to the very brink of self-destruction. If we do nothing about it, the next war will be the end of the world where there will be neither victors nor victims, only dead bodies.

Let us pray for sincere peace and tranquility in 2022.

Farouk Araie, Actonville, Benoni