As the year winds down, I want to thank all those who have encouraged me to write this column. There are far too many to name. If I tried, I’m sure to forget someone. Rather than take that chance, I’ll just say thanks to all.
I also want to thank you, the readers, for taking the time to read a newspaper – even an electronic newspaper. Gore Vidal quipped that: “Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for president. One hopes it is the same half.”
My column is a labor of love; it has to be because I am not paid for it. Doing it pro bono was my own idea. I didn’t want anyone thinking that I’d generate controversy for a few bucks. Besides, all print newspapers are having serious economic problems. The competition for the public’s attention and, ultimately, the public’s money is fierce.
When it comes to electronic media, newspapers are adopting a proven philosophy. “If you can’t beat them, join them” – they are going online. Hundreds of papers have already done so including such respected names as The Christian Science Monitor, in business since 1908 and recipient of seven Pulitzer prizes, whose daily editions are now only found online.
When it was Free Lance’s turn to shift toward the net, I came along. Like so many of you, I get my out-of-town newspapers in my e-mail inbox or I read the online editions, but when given a choice I’d rather have the paper in my hand and I take my local paper that way. Yes, I was a subscriber to the Free Lance before I was a contributor and I hope to continue to be both.
Traditionally, New Year’s is also a time for looking forward and sizing up our opportunities. I’ve decided to steer that course, but first I want to say a few words about the past and how we got to where we are.
A major factor has been our attitude. As a people, we’ve been lowering our expectations for more than four decades. Now, desperate for success, we’ve set our goals so low that achieving them isn’t even a real victory.
Of course, there is always hope. If you’re a pessimist, you might agree with Evan Esar who said, “Hope is tomorrow’s veneer over today’s disappointment.” Far too many people use hope that way; however, more 2,000 years ago, Cicero expressed a more optimistic view of the future. “While there’s life, there’s hope.”
The good news is that you’re never powerless or out of options as long as you’re alive and have the desire to make things happen; the bad news is that every missed opportunity is gone forever in time. Great changes never happen overnight. They are the result of a series of advances, retreats, corrections and re-advances, but to have a better tomorrow, you have to start today.
“Wait until next year” is an oft-heard statement of hope; unfortunately, it is not a promise; just ask any fan of the Chicago Cubs.
In a way, “wait until next year” is also an indication of failure, an admission that you did not accomplish your goals this year. Will you be a better person next year, make a better community, secure a better education for your children and prosper? Only you know the answer because the means to those ends are mainly in your own hands.
For all our problems, this is still the land of opportunity. Will you take it or will you be saying “wait until next year” again at the end of 2009? Happy New Year.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident. His column runs Tuesdays. Reach him at
cw*****@ya***.com
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