There are about 8.2 billion people in the world, each with their own hopes for the coming year. So as I did for my turn-of-the-year letters last year and the year before, I asked a variety of people, from many walks of life and parts of the world, about what they were looking forward to. Here’s what 15 of them had to say (quotes are excerpted from emails unless otherwise noted):
Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, the deputy director of polio eradication at the Gates Foundation:
My hope for 2025 is that all children, especially those living in the hardest-to-reach communities, can grow up protected from vaccine-preventable disease like polio and measles. Because it’s in the absence of disease that everything else is allowed to flourish, and where all lives have equal value.
Walter Lawrence, of Woodlawn, the Bronx, a security guard (interview):
I hope my wife gets better. I hope I can retire. My mother is 92. I hope she lives to 100.
Colson Whitehead, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author:
I have no hopes for 2025. Humanity is disappointing. We killed the Earth. Villains triumph and the innocents suffer. I imagine these trends will continue.
Keyu Jin, an associate professor of economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science:
For 2025, it would be a blessing if major governments embraced economic pragmatism over ideological or self-serving political agendas that inflate the egos of politicians but harm the people they serve. May 2025 mark China’s adoption of a decisive, whatever-it-takes approach to rejuvenate its economy. Finally, let us hope that the United States and China find common ground to prioritize addressing their internal challenges, rather than fixating on undermining one another.
Jhovanny Irazabal, a 26-year-old refugee from Venezuela living in New York City (interview, translated from Spanish):
I want to buy a car. I hope my country escapes dictatorship. This is the year of change.
Douglas Hofstadter, a computer scientist at Indiana University in Bloomington and an author:
I hope somehow to regain some measure of hope in this, the most ominous-seeming year that I have yet faced. Over this past year, and especially these last few months, I have lost much of my once-strong faith in humanity, but I hope, somehow, to regain at least a little bit of it in 2025. How, I certainly don’t know, but hope springs eternal.
Tímea Füzi, 25, a Hungarian studying film in New York:
In 2025, I hope people embrace being messy, spontaneous and free. I hope they care less about looks and what others think of them. More important, I hope people appreciate themselves as they are.
Dmitry Dolgin, the chief Russia economist of ING, a bank based in Amsterdam:
In Russia, my home country, the state needs to start acting less like a corporation maximizing value for a select few shareholders and more like an institution designed to serve the interests of a broader community. And for myself, I just hope to be able to return home one day.
Siva Sivaram, the chief executive of QuantumScape, a developer of solid state lithium-metal batteries based in San Jose, Calif.:
In 2025, the race for global battery supremacy will intensify amid growing demand across sectors like transportation and A.I. The battle for lithium-ion batteries is lost to China, but the future depends on next-generation technologies that outperform them. I hope the United States leads in this new era of energy storage.
Garrett Needham, 13, of McKinney, Texas (interview):
Stuff has gotten so expensive. If we could just form a system to support everybody. America was based on freedom, but right now it seems like only the wealthy have the freedom.
Roland Busch, the chief executive of Siemens, the industrial company based in Munich:
2025 will be the year of industrial A.I. It will be a powerful tool to address skilled labor shortages and boost productivity, creating substantial growth opportunities.
Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Donald Trump in his 2024 campaign for president:
I’m hopeful for a renewed American patriotism. As we near our 250th anniversary as a nation, let’s celebrate the greatness of America. I’m hopeful that we get not the bad Trump who can sometimes sow division and mistrust, but the good Trump who can unify the country.
Jill Popelka, the chief executive of Darktrace, a cybersecurity company headquartered in Cambridge, England:
In 2025, A.I. will become an indispensable force in the workplace. However, cybercriminals are also using A.I. It’s only by grappling with the challenge of cybersecurity in the A.I. age that we can hope to realize the huge potential for growth.
Dr. Sudhir Warrier, a hand surgeon in Mumbai, India:
My country, unfortunately, has chosen to ape health care systems that are inexorably heading toward an implosion. Our research is providing us with local solutions in hand surgery, treatment of corneal opacities, and other fields that have global applications. I hope we can race ahead and provide affordable and quality care to all our patients.
Cecilia Rouse, the president of the Brookings Institution:
I truly hope that we can cut through the partisan noise and come together on policies that are positive and impactful. That means being open to ideas and research that challenge one’s worldview, accepting facts that don’t necessarily support predrawn conclusions, and approaching policy-making with an intention to solve problems, not obstruct.
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