SHANE​ WARREN

There’s a name for this weird little void we tumble into every year, that space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when time stops making sense, calories stop counting, and the line between “afternoon nap” and “existential crisis” gets deliciously blurry. It’s called Gooch Week.

These instruments do not “prove” that crowns cause prosperity, freedom, or happiness. They do support a humbler claim: where a democracy already takes law and competence seriously, an apolitical head of state helps it stay serious in bad weather.

As we roll into the end-of-year season - family dinners, office parties, group catch-ups, and those “let’s do this every year!” barbecues - there’s always that one person.

There are few theological distortions as remarkable, and as dangerous, as the rise of prosperity theology. Rainn Wilson’s words land with force: how did a radical peasant from Galilee, who preached solidarity with the poor, end up rebranded as a cultural mascot for wealth, nationalism, and “God wants you to have a bigger house”?

A strange thing happens when a country starts arguing with itself: we forget who benefits. We trade side-eye with the person down the street who votes differently, while those who profit from chaos quietly toast another bumper quarter. We rage at each other online, and the engagement metrics purr. We are, as the saying goes, taking the bait.

Apparently, the left is destroying society, undermining values, and eroding freedoms. And yet, here’s the inconvenient truth, much of what we call freedoms and values today were delivered precisely because the left fought tooth and nail for them.

Suicide is preventable. Together, we can build a world where fewer families know this grief. A world where people don’t wait until it’s “too late” to ask for help. A world where, instead of silence, there is solidarity.

Multiculturalism does not scare me. In fact, it excites me. It inspires me. It challenges me to be a better version of myself. Because history shows us something very clearly: diverse societies don’t collapse - they thrive. They build richer cultures, stronger economies, and deeper opportunities for all of us to become our better selves.

Those who have worked with me know I carry a deep fascination with politics. Not in the shallow theatre of who “wins the day,” but in the deeper way policy shapes how we live, how we feel, and even how we connect with one another. Politics, at its heart, is human psychology in action. And if we take a moment to look honestly at what’s happening in the world today, it’s hard not to feel a little unsettled.

In recent weeks, the world has been shaken by news of a tragic case: a teenager who died by suicide after reportedly using an AI chatbot as a substitute for companionship in his final days. According to court filings, the young person’s conversations with the chatbot shifted from homework help to discussions of anxiety, isolation, and ultimately, methods of self-harm. His parents have since taken legal action, alleging that the system not only failed to protect him, but in so