‘And what have you done?’

‘So this is Christmas and what have you done?                              Another year over and a new one just begun.’

And so here we are again, the same familiar story, the same familiar faces and the very same problems facing us in much the same old way.

How many times have we been here in the past? What were the results then and how many more meetings and get-togethers do we need before we can safely lay this whole matter to rest?

Do we know what we’re doing? Have we any idea when and if there will be an end to this conflict so that arrangements can be made to finish with it once and for all?

It would be very nice to have a crystal ball or the use of a time machine to inform us as to the outcome of so much industry currently being conducted on our behalf. Or would we be too afraid to glimpse a future fated to turn out even worse than the direst predictions already on file?

But it seems we do not have that certainty of tomorrow, no faith in a world where, in the work of a moment, years of patient, cautious dialogue and compromise can be undone forever.

Perhaps we must resort to stronger methods and more deliberate action if we are ever to gain control over all those inner demons that drive men onward towards a destiny very few of them would actually relish.

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Find another and a better way if you can. But, if such cannot be found, then are we willing and able to make the call and decide where we want to go from here?

‘A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year                                  Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.’