Category: Policy

Witnessing a Moment in History

Yesterday, Bangladesh had its national elections. But this was no ordinary elections, it was the first that was broadly fair and free in nearly two decades.

In the West, the idea of a free and fair election is taken for granted. So is the idea of general state stability. Post-colonial South Asian politics has no such luxury. Bangladesh has been mirred with in-fighting, coups and counter-coups throughout its young history. A descent into military rule has very much been on the cards over the last few years.

As such, these elections were historic. Nonetheless, the slight irony is that the results themselves feel somewhat anticlimactic to me. Although broadly peaceful and open elections are to be celebrated, reforms and genuine positive change will take a lot more hard, earnest work.

Waiting for the World to implode

I don’t think I’ve seen as much pessimism at the start of the year than I have in 2026. We’ve got to the point where we openly speak about how tumultuous things are right now.

The political watershed moment of the week came from Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister. Speaking at Davos, he openly talked about the ‘illusion’ of the rules-based international order. He went as far as to say ‘the system’s power comes not from its truth, but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true’.

The problem is that the illusion is slipping. It has been for a while now.

Things are difficult right now, it’s not your imagination

Although I’ve been relatively insular in recent times, I can’t help but feel what is going on in the world.

Things feel tough for people. I’m not really seeing many people truly thriving. It feels like a lot of us are stuck in a broken system.

Perspective is always helpful. I’ve been editing my father’s biography, where he talks about coming to the UK in the 70s. He came as a student, integrated, saw an opportunity, opened a business and eventually thrived.

In modern times, such a venture would be crazy. The price of renting a physical space is incredibly high, to the point where you just couldn’t get a loan to do this. You would need some sort of financial backing beforehand.

Things are difficult right now, it’s not your imagination

Feeling the pain of a world in conflict

I’ve been feeling low rather regularly in the last week. It’s really been at odds with what’s happening in my life. Broadly speaking, I’m actually on the up.
Yet as I regain my connection with the world, I also regain my connection with its pains. And right now, the world is in a lot of pain.
Seeing what is happening right now in Gaza is devastating. My soul has been longing for some space for sadness. After a period of time, perhaps I’m finally giving it.

What’s the point of protesting anyway?

For a long time in my life, I found protests pointless. I didn’t really get the point of going out on the street to complain about things. It didn’t really seem to do a whole lot.
But my view has shifted over the last few years. I’ve experienced more political events that have struck me personally.
Sometimes protests are simply needed to release a built up level of frustration. Other times, it is important to demonstrate that we are not quietly accepting something that is being imposed upon us.

I’ve built a growing admiration for those who lead protests. It’s not a simple thing to galvanise people into action. Whilst I may not be a personal fan of the oft harsher messaging, I’ve also come to appreciate that my preference for technocratic change is ineffective if it is not paired with radical action to shift societal opinion.

Despite this, I find many protests are not particularly effective. In fact, sometimes they may actually do more harm than good.

How much desire should we have in our lives?

Everyday we are constantly prompted by things we should desire.

During our weekly shop, the supermarket shelves are stacked with new, tasty products with shiny offers to tempt us. When we go to social events, our friends demonstrate a cool new trendy item of clothing. And when we commence our doomscrolling, social media apps bombard us with targeted ads of things to buy.

Yet one thing I’ve noticed over the last year is how much less I seem to desire these things. My general sense of ‘wanting’ has been extremely dulled.

When I reflect on this, I came to the question: is this enlightenment, or is this depression?

Why I feel I’m not allowed to protest

This weekend is protest galore in Brussels. Today there is a march for International Women’s Day, whilst tomorrow there is a protest against the new ‘Arizona’ government coalition taking up power in Belgium.

Yet, I’ve always felt a hesitancy around ever participating in a protest. There is something about participating in one that sets off an internal trigger warning that says ‘that’s a bad idea’.

Creating 2025 as the Year of Delusion

I’ve already started hearing stuff around vision boards and resolutions. I’m personally not a super fan of either. Not because neither of them can work, but because a lot of it comes out of societal pressure. And societal pressure rarely is conducive to meaningful change.

The most important method, whether it be manifestation, vision boards, resolutions or anything else is this: that you actually use it. We all know about resolutions that only last a week, with no genuine intention to actually meet them.

This year, however I was prompted around the idea of doing a theme.

Finding the balance between reflection and overthink

The last few weeks I’ve kept my days clearer and my evenings quieter.

Some call this ‘slowing down’, though I find that term a bit confusing – because whilst I am doing less activities, my mental space doesn’t feel particularly less active. If anything, it feels like I think more, rather than less.

It’s been an interesting experience for sure. Having freer evenings has allowed me to lounge around and enjoy spending time alone. When I tried ‘doing less’ in the summer, I ended up getting fidgety and felt quite miserable because I didn’t know what to do with myself. I think I’m having a better crack at it now though.