January '24

Let us think deeper about the aforementioned content of this spacetime receptacle. Most people would surely wish others that the commencing year be prosperous and full of plenty. But is that even possible?

It is worth noting that the disseminators of utopian thoughts generally had it pretty good. Plato was a noble Athenian. He could even afford founding his own school – the Academy – for which no tuition was collected. This surely contributed to the popularity of Plato’s notion that the ruling class should consist entirely of philosophers. A classless society, on the other hand, was clearly described by Karl Marx in the fashionable London district of Soho with the generous financial support of the capitalist Engels.

Please allow me to also get my beak wet in this utopian pond. I envision a 2024 in which everyone will stop to glance at their socks. The beauty emanating from them will surely fill the observer’s soul with such pleasure that they will need nothing more in life, obviously except for a bit of nourishment and the occasional satisfaction of a basic bodily function. The subsequent decline in non-essential (i.e., non-sock) goods will cure all the economic and ecological malaises of the world.  

If for some reason we do not succeed in triggering a worldwide sock nirvana this year, then please allow me to add just one more wish into our empty spacetime vessel: may your steps be merry and colourful this year and may our socks accompany them all the way.