Chanukah is underway and Christmas is just a couple of weeks off. Another year will go by the wayside.

As we approach December 31, you will hear people chirping on social media that they are glad such a bad year is fading into the rearview mirror and how much they are looking forward to brighter times in 2024.

These people are not awake. Don't get lulled into their fantasyland.

It's more likely that we will look back on 2023 as perhaps the last year in which we enjoyed a somewhat normal life here in America, still perched atop the global order and enjoying all the benefits of that status. Our dollars still buy food for our Christmas table and energy to heat our homes, even if it's more expensive than in previous years.