2019, for me, was a combination of fun times and existential dread. I love my family and friends and the time I spend with them. I released my second novel, completed the first draft of a third, and started on my fourth. I had plenty of consulting work and money in the bank. I had great times playing Dungeons & Dragons, Pokemon GO, poker, and a bunch of other games.

At the same time, I worried for my daughter’s future. Climate change is an existential threat, guns in schools are a constant worry, and every major city in California has tent cities filled with homeless people, many who are drug addicts and/or mentally ill. And our leader? We have a racist, short-sighted, vindictive president backed by at least 40% of the country.

I worry for myself as well. Will I stay healthy? Will I continue to have enough work as a freelancer? Will enough people buy and review my novels that publishers stay interested? But in my wiser moments I can see that these worries are just manifestations of my desires (longevity, wealth, fame in my profession) and are self-inflicted; being grateful for what I have in the moment is usually the remedy.

The national and global worries are thornier. Kia and I wonder if we should leave the country. For now our extended families keep us rooted. But even if that were not the case, any kind of geographic solution is a crapshoot. Climate change is a global situation that affects each region differently. Unfortunately the same is true for political ailments (xenophobia, nationalism, authoritarianism, corruption); no country is immune and economic and environmental pressures can bring out the worst in us.

But while we can’t completely control our fate — either as individuals or nations — we can influence it greatly. Life deals us a random hand of genetic, social, and geopolitical strengths and weaknesses, and then we play. Usually, cool heads playing the long game prevail. Despite the hot mess of egomaniacal idiots currently running the show, there are plenty of people and communities working on long-term solutions to how to survive and thrive in the 21st century on planet Earth.

Such as:

  • Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and curbing carbon emissions
  • Planting millions of trees, preserving and expanding forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other effective carbon sinks
  • Reasonable wealth taxation and progressive income taxation focusing on the world’s .1% wealthiest to provide basic government services (education, healthcare, infrastructure, public health and safety, parks, libraries, etc.) for all
  • Modifying free-markets and corporate charters to account for and protect the commons (natural ecologies, public health, established communities, etc.)
  • Resisting and sanctioning authoritarian governments that abuse human rights (China and the United States both have active concentration camps with tens of thousands of detainees)

I have my own list of things I need to do to survive and thrive in the next decade and hopefully the better part of this century. Quantum mechanics tells us that outcomes are not predetermined, and to me that means we have free will and can influence our fates, both individually and collectively.

So here’s to hope. The story isn’t over yet. In 2020 we might have a new president, better environmental policies, more sensible gun laws, and fewer people detained in concentration camps.

And if we don’t, we have our work cut out for us.