I’ve never been much interested in making New Year’s Resolutions. There’s something about herd psychology that makes me prefer to do things my own way, sometimes to my regret but still preserving my sense of autonomy. When we know we need to change our ways, why wait until a new year to try to fix it? Since the world in general doesn’t seem to share that philosophy, I’m offering some suggestions for things I think need improving. Feel free to jump in and do something to help solve some of these problems, both critical and merely annoying.

Those heart-wrenching campaigns to feed and care for neglected and abused animals (mostly those creatures we think of as pets) are merely band-aids to treat the symptoms, but don’t seem to be very effective at removing the cause. We need to stop throwing money at the symptoms of the problem and stop it at its source. The thoughtless people who abandon pets are only a small part, the main cause is the cruel and greedy people who run so-called puppy mills, those who breed fighting dogs and the stupid monsters with stone hearts who would confine an animal so that it cannot look after its own needs for food, water and shelter, and then walk away and pretend it never happened. How such people can live with their consciences is beyond my understanding.

I’d like to see a more democratic way of providing information, services, and opportunities to those who cannot or choose not to travel on the electronic highway. Far too often, the only way to take advantage of a product offer, helpful information or entertainment opportunity is by way of the internet. Companies and organizations once reachable via ordinary mail or telephone seem to have vanished from reach for those without computers or the skills to do things “the modern and efficient way.” I have been cut off from an organization that stopped publishing its magazine in hard copy and made it available only online. If public TV is truly “public” we shouldn’t have to pay extra for streaming, should we? I have friends from my own generation who have given up the computer as it is becoming too expensive and too complicated. Does not being “online” make us second class citizens?

We need to, at least, slow down the corruption and weakening of our language or we will someday find ourselves again communicating with grunts and shrugs. We already have a good start in that direction with all the abbreviations people use in their electronic messaging, such as LOL, AFK and the rest of that rapidly growing list. It causes me to wonder if we will forget what a sentence is, and nobody will remember the differences between nouns, verbs, adjectives and all the other parts of speech. I’ve noticed, during the past ten or fifteen years, that nearly everyone has forgotten the difference between “farther” and “further.” It’s simple – “farther is for measurable distances only and “further” for everything else. The past perfect tense has been nearly eliminated from most people’s language, but it grates on the ear to hear a certain television station claim that “we’ve always strived…” instead of “striven.” Remember, words with the same meaning are not always interchangeable.

The solution to all this verbal mayhem is simple, or it should be. Start teaching grammar in schools again and don’t let anyone get past eighth grade until they can identify the parts of speech and use them properly. Casual, conversational language is acceptable in informal situations and what we once called “the king’s English” would seem stilted or pompous in most everyday situations, but people who make their livings with words – lecturers, advertisers, news anchors, talk show hosts and many others – should be aware of how they influence the people who hear the way they express their thoughts, and set good examples. Good grammar reflects understanding and clear reasoning and removes ambiguity. I firmly believe that anyone who says “you know” twice in one sentence should be forbidden to speak to more than two people at a time, and those listeners should be patient, understanding friends or relatives. The rest of us should be protected from such torture.