May I, composed of Eros and Dust..

[NNadir]

...Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

These are the concluding lines of this poem, "September 1, 1939" by W.H. Auden, is displayed on the wall of the Whitney Museum's exhibition of protest art.

An Incomplete History of Protest:

As the New Year approaches, in yet another dark time, this poem is certainly worth reading.

It begins like this:

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth...

The full poem, worth reading as this awful year ends in great shame for our country, is here:

September 1, 1939

I wish you a happy and sober New Year. We have a world worth saving.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. the world is worth saving...it will save itself -

the big question - are we as a species worth saving? I think we have some pretty serious flaws.

[NNadir]

2. I personally have many serious - very serious - flaws but...

...as my time on this planet approaches its end, I finally understand how beautiful life is, including my own life.

As a species, we have seen the edge of the universe, understood much of what the structure of the smallest fragments of being.

This, I think, is the true reason to be alive, simply to see.

There is much in the world of human beings that is corrupt and profane, but personally, speaking only for myself...

...I love humanity.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Can't argue with that. However...I think a few traits need cleansing out of the species

need for power, greed and how increasing wealth changes people, dishonesty, tribalism for a start.

I am a bit of an idealist, I guess!

[Sophia4]

4. And,

Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

http://www.poemdujour.com/Sept1.1939.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden