At the end of this very atypical year, filled with regrets and promises, it is worth reflecting on our recent experiences, reevaluating our actions, and setting our compasses in the direction of a brighter future.
In contrast to the excesses and complexity of the analyses in its respect, especially at this time of year, simultaneously reinventing the wheel to solve all the problems in the World, our intention, much simpler and more modest, is the invitation to calculate what we would like to add or delete in 2023, based on our recent experiences.
The greatest loss of all, evidently, refers to the close to 700 thousand empty seats at our tables for the year-end festivities (and millions around the globe), each one an irreparable tragedy, the consequence of an epidemic that, although subsiding, continues to kill and infect, much of the worst and the best of our societies, without filter. In our calculation, we would have less politization and more science, less histrionics and more technical preparation, less opportunism, and more respect for life.
As to the political situation, our wish is that the renovations brought about will translate into less speeches and more action, less rhetorical ideology and more pragmatism, less exacerbation and more moderation, less cynicism and more integrity, less impudence and more honor, less hysteria and more decorum, less ill-tempered disposition and more self-constraint.
From the sociopolitical perspective, less scares and more courage, less disorder and more cooperation, less form and more content, less animosity and more companionship, less tumult and more discipline, less social media influencers and more specialized workers, less fake and more news.
In the economy, we expect less inertia and more common sense, less confusion and more governance, less obstacles and more solutions, more productivity and less bureaucracy, more fiscal responsibility and less intemperateness, more growth and less pessimism, more transparency with respect to the public accounts and less indecision, regulation that is evermore clear concerning economic activity and less subjectivity.
The quantity, seriousness and complexity of our common problems, instead of paralyzing us, impose adjustment and reevaluation of our individual and collective responsibilities, based on ethical principles that allow our sustainable coexistence.
Undoubtedly, the World’s problems won´t be easily resolved, but we believe in the power of cumulative results and, thus, we hope that all our recent traumatic experiences permit that each of us, after making our individual calculations, set our courses for, within its sphere of activity, add something positive to the Country and, if possible, to the World that we all share.
When everything appears to be uncertain and doubtful, it is time to think considering the most basic principles, those that are most simple, such as moral, honesty and character, fundamental as behavioral parameters.
No one sustains oneself on bases that are not solid, and it is imperious at this moment that we focus on our ethical foundations, the bedrock of any structure, whether it be physical, psychological, social or political. It is as simple as a coffee shop bill, but it is the only one that can work.
André de Almeida, CEO and Founding Partner of Almeida Advogados.