Photo by Maxi am Brunnen on Unsplash
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.
This is not a political blog, but I also do not shy away from politics. I am wary of self-help gurus whose solution to the world’s woes is to turn off the news because ‘it is too negative’. I quit a coaching programme last year when a coach suggested ‘rising above’ picking a side in the Israel-Gaza war. There is nothing spiritual or healthy about ‘rising above’ a genocide.
I’ve moved away from such western, individualistic styles of philosophies, and instead taken inspiration from ancient South Asian influences. I believe the world runs in cycles. For a good amount of time, perhaps after the Cold War, we’ve had a relatively stable time of it. This stability was flawed, but the illusion served us all. Over time, however, the cracks have grown.
People have grown disillusioned. The difference between what is promised and what is given continues to grow. Most of us can’t afford houses. Healthcare has become harder to access. Many sectors are built upon barely-legal unpaid internships.
As disillusionment has grown, the winning argument has become to have a more interventionist, directional approach. I think this is why we see a growing amount of authoritarian styles of governance. Displaying authority and coercing discipline keeps the boat afloat. Or the illusion of it anyway.
But there is only so much duct tape you can put on top of a creaking system. Climate change does not suddenly disappear because we stop talking about it. Anti-migrant and anti-trans narratives only work until people realise that eradicating minorities doesn’t actually improve anything. Economically, the AI bubble can only inflate for so long until investors are finally willing to admit the truth: the astronomical investments are only give a fraction of the promised value.
We are due a reckoning, and it’s not going to be pretty.
Yet this is not a message of despair. Instead, it’s a message of comprehension. This is a cycle. We need a period like this for us to get genuinely honest about what is working, and not, within society. Only when the illusion has fully been dispelled can we look honestly at creating something that works better.
In the last few weeks, things started to click for me. My perennial challenge has been that despite knowing what I’m talking about, my voice has been sidelined. Actually, I think it’s been sidelined because I know what I’m talking about.
The problem is that I question things. In an increasingly systematised, authoritarian era, this has been seen as a threat, rather than an asset. My questions highlight the short-sighted nature of how things are run. Since my points are factually logical, it is easier to instead attack my character. ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’, I’ve been told. When I ask for an example, I receive silence.
I’ve come to understand that I’m not meant to work in such systems. I tried, and after nearly 10 years of it, I broke down. It’s taken me over two years of rest since then, and I’m still recovering.
Instead, my voice only gains relevance in the next stage of the cycle. When we are more ready to admit as a society that things are broken. When people are looking for more honest answers, rather than how to keep the engine going for another 20 miles.
Strangely, I’m waiting for the world to implode. Only then, can I actually do something about it.