What history teaches about 2023

I’ve lived in Sheffield since 1993, when I came to study History at ‘Uni of’ and, like so many others, it has become my home. The city has seen some changes since then. The Hole in the Road was filled in. The Tinsley twin towers were demolished. Coles became John Lewis, became a shell with an uncertain future. Some memories haven’t been erased. The haunting history of Orgreave hangs in the air even as the sparkling new Waverley estate is built. Sheffield holds it’s working class history, and struggle, with honour.

My studies of history tell me that, despite some big cultural shifts, in many ways the Bible proverb is true:

“there is nothing new under the sun.”

This worries me as our region and nation embarks upon yet another year of austerity, and tough times.

History shows that, in every nation, austerity produces civil angst and perhaps unrest. Years of financial squeeze, lost opportunities and frustrated dreams tends to produce polarisation. It happens in politics, as political parties eat themselves and can’t maintain stability, which leads to short-term coalitions founded on self-interest. Our defining views and ideologies become polarised. Where before we allowed for a comfortable compromise, suddenly we are forced to choose between left vs. right, progressive vs. conservative, right vs. wrong.

Typically, there is a rise of nationalism, a desire to close borders, to protect ourselves from the dangerous ‘other’. Ultimately, austerity often produces war.

This is our lot as we enter 2023. I wonder if we can navigate things better, this time around?

We are experiencing widespread strikes. They tend to begin with a nation’s sympathy, but if strikes persist, they can become very irritating, intimidating and inconvenient. The danger is that people’s frustration may boil over into civil unrest.

Competing demands and ideologies are at the root of people’s response to austerity, and their views on its cause. Is there any way out of this conflict? In common with so much today, whether we face scarcity or diversity, we have to learn how to disagree well.

All religions urge us to prefer each other. St Paul, in the Bible says, “with all humility, gentleness and patience, bear with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)

As we grit our teeth and enter 2023, can we, as a region, dig deep within us to find what is necessary to navigate these conflicted and unstable times in peace?