ThirstyFish

The year 2012 is destined to be be an interesting one. Is the Arab Spring going to overcome its suspended state? Is the Occupy Movement going to succeed in convincing the 99%, that they are indeed the 99%? Is another global financial crises in the making, as many respected economists are predicting? Who is going to be the next president? And, most importantly, is the world going to come to an end on December 21, 2012?

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) came in second in the 2011 Word of the Year selection by linguists at the American Dialect Society. The "fear that if you miss a party or event you will miss out on something great" is not just youth-speak, but a real and growing psychological addiction. Just observe people constantly monitor their phones and text msgs seeking the next fun thing to do.

The 2011 Word of the Year was Occupy. During a conversation with a couple of active members of Occupy Philadelphia, I expressed some reservation about the future of the movement. One of them asked me why I thought that the movement might have an uphill battle. "Because, Occupy has to convince the ignorant, the arrogant, the indifferent, the consumerists, the hedonists and the conformists in the 99%; It is doable but difficult", I answered. He seemed a little perplexed.

Of course, for the Occupy Movement to succeed, it does not need to educate and inform every single person in the 99%; just a sufficient number to bring forth real change. The world is ready to drop some old doctrines and the young generation is just about ready to make changes for a sustainable future. The Occupy Movement has already transformed the global conversation - it's time for Occupy 2.0.

The prominent British physicist Stephen Hawking, could not attend his 70th birthday celebration last Sunday due to health reasons. He instead sent a recorded speech that warned that "the human race would not survive another thousand years without beginning to colonize other parts of space". He concluded his speech by calling on people to "be curious".

More Occupy photos.

Song of the Day: El Diablo en El Ojo - Tindersticks (1995)