I thought, why wait until 31 December to wrap things up for 2024, when the Word-of-the-Year so perfectly encapsulates the vibe?
The definition is a little tl:dr for my liking, and too plain-vanilla pc — “most things have turned to shit” — is what it means, because a colloquialism should be stated in the vernacular of those most likely to use it.
Which doesn’t include me, for the record. Why? For three good reasons.
Firstly, I haven’t lost faith in politicians.
I think the majority want to do good work, and sob into their pillows at night when the party-apparatchiks win. But, so long as they keep trying, they get my vote.
An example of good work is the Greens announcing today that they will join Labor to cast expelliarmus on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the next election.
Secondly, my wife and I own our home outright.
Paid off without gift, grift, graft, inheritance or windfall, like eating an elephant we consumed our debt one spoonful at a time without any significant reduction in our already-modest lifestyle.
Now with a roof over our heads and savings for a rainy year, we are proof that those whiny bitches driving leased BMW’s blubbing about “the affordability crisis” need to shut the fuck up and catch public transport occasionally. Maybe pack their lunch from home.
Third, I am within striking distance of retirement.
If the next 39 months go exceptionally well, then I’ll retire at 60. If not, then it becomes a monthly maths equation. When superannuation plus savings equals magic number, I am done.
I know this terrifies my wife, but she will get over it.
There are many other factors which help to deshittify my life, but because I’ve noticed the interwebz are seething with salty individuals who object to the happiness of others, I won’t list them all. Anyone who’se dealt with a flea-infestation will understand.
But why are the fleas all so shitty?
Firstly, some of their tantrums are fake.
For example, a woman on TikTok screams abuse into her phone, that’s her thing, and a billion-gazillion doomscrollers subscribe to the faux-outrage. I imagine most of the time she’s happily laughing her tits off as the Tiktok dollars roll in, but the nett effect of her fakery is to make life worse for others.
Enshittification breeds enshittification.
Then there are the nay-sayers and negative nancies who believe, prima facie, that everything is shit.
It’s important to note that the Nancies were always hate-sacks filled with vile opinions and biases which poison our world and everything they touch. But the Nancies were trolls before the internet. The www just gave them a bridge to sulk under.
Hmm, nice segue there.
Third is entitlement, the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment which you have done nothing to earn.
Personality disorders aside, many people feel wronged when they stamp their feet and nothing happens. We like to bash the Zoomers and Alphas, but it was my generation that birthed the Karens.
We deserve more!
Having ended a post on the 2024 Word-of-the-Year with a meme from 2006, I am drawn to one longitudinal observation which might help.
Q: How much do you engage with triggering content, thereby feeding the algorithm, only to have even more aggravating shit boomerang right back at you?
Nope. The internet definitely does not love you. Most of the people on social media aren’t even people, let alone your friend.
So consider taking a break.
If nothing else, you’ll have a clear head for the difficult and confronting task of identifying the real things in life that are making you unhappy. If you don’t, then guess what your word-of-the-year will be in 2025…