Putting the House in Order

There is an old tradition -- that I've only recently come to know -- of putting one's house in order on the day of New Year's Eve to ensure that the new year will be a good one. So I spent the morning doing just that. We'd spent the week before Christmas giving the house a pretty good overhaul, so there was mostly just touch up: wiping down the bathrooms, dusting, picking up, doing dishes, wiping down the kitchen, scooping cat boxes, taking out the trash. Knowing that the house is in order -- well, orderly compared with the usual mayhem -- on the last day of the year, in preparation for the incoming year, feels pretty good, and I feel quite at ease sitting down to knit away the afternoon.

Now, if I had my way and could be Omnipotent Goddess of All Things, there'd be quite a few other things about the House of Humanity that I'd put in order. F'rinstance...

• Wall Street bankers, when handed taxpayer's money to bail out the banks that they'd tanked, would not feel the slightest compulsion to accept bloated bonuses. In fact, they'd be putting their banking houses in apple-pie order order to prevent another collapse and bail-out. 
• Everyone would consider health care a necessity, not a luxury available only to those who can afford it, and would thoughtfully craft a way to make that happen.
• As everyone would recognize that only an educated populace can be truly free, a high-quality public education for all citizens would be a top priority.
• Everyone would recognize the long-term price to be paid for cheap, sweatshop-made products.
• There would be no doubt in anyone's mind that if we don't have a healthy ecosystem, we can't have a healthy economy, either.
• The sight of poverty would arouse such compassion in the hearts of those observing that it would spur them to thoughtful action, bringing about the eventual end of poverty.

Actually, I think the last one is key. I think we really need is wave of a magic Omnipotent Goddess hand to give everyone in the world and everyone to come a full measure of compassion for all living, sentient beings on this planet. Imagine how many of the world's problems could be cured with that divine hand-wave.

All together now... ::wave wave wave::