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I can’t remem­ber a worse year than 2009. Every news­mon­ger has told me how bad it will be before it even started. The world econ­omy has expired like an untied fes­tive bal­loon. Envi­ron­men­tal issues are threat­en­ing civ­i­liza­tion. What can improve the sta­tus quo?

I spend most of my time in Lon­don, which is an infer­nally dif­fi­cult city to sur­vive in. Travel dif­fi­cul­ties, hous­ing costs, and pop­u­la­tion den­sity are a few of the chal­lenges that Lon­don­ers endure every day. But the pain is off­set by the cul­tural and eth­nic diver­sity, which makes this heav­ing metrop­o­lis one of the most fas­ci­nat­ing cities on the planet.

It’s impos­si­ble not to revel in the bub­bling cal­dron of racial vari­ety that touches every Londoner’s daily life. True, I’m not black, or gay or a Mus­lim or any other oppressed minor­ity. I don’t know prej­u­dice and I have never expe­ri­enced hatred. And in 2009, why should any­one else? Why is it not pos­si­ble to see the world’s rain­bow of colours and range of reli­gions as a source of joy rather than a rea­son to go wild and get violent?

Finally Barack Obama has become the Pres­i­dent of the world’s most impor­tant coun­try. Unlike his pre­de­ces­sor, Mr Obama can speak in sen­tences and val­ues détente more than det­o­na­tion. But most inter­est­ing of all is that Mr Obama is a man of mixed race – nei­ther white nor black – a man who can speak to every­one from a broader per­spec­tive than most of us.

We live in a world, fraught with prob­lems. But if we could only work together, for the com­mon good, there is noth­ing we couldn’t fix. All we need, as John Lennon and every reli­gion in the world will tell you, is love.

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