New Year is mostly a time for doing positive things to make life better for people. This year I’m going to suggest that we should also give something up. No, not chocolates or leisure time but The Rootless Rant. I do not write to attract large numbers of readers. For me one thinking reader is worth a million skimmers. But I must admit on two occasions I experimented by writing a Rootless Rant and the number of readers shot up. Which I find sad. Writing Rant is easy and pointless. So shall we resolve to Un-Rant this year?
People rant when they cannot find a credible reason for their displeasure. So they focus on a superficial irritation and make it the center of a supposedly big issue. Then they rant. If in a group – physically or social-media based – the other members of the group will likely agree with them to exacerbate the rant. I suppose it might be called ‘Rant a Cause’. After all, if you’re going to rant, better to do it well, eh?
Rant also involves loud noise. It is generally assumed that the louder the sound, the more important the cause. Alas, this is a very weak assumption. Watch the modern politicians in the United States, Europe, Latin America drumming up hate of someone or something. Ugly faces yelling ugly things don’t make compelling arguments – but they do make compelling television. And that’s the problem. Art and life have a powerful relationship so tv films rant to be modern. Then modern life thinks the response to an irritation is murder.
People have said “rants are not rootless”. They refer, of course, to the reason for the rant, not to the rant itself. There are many reasons why we should be upset by what goes on in the world. Poverty, hunger, greed, theft, character assination – I could go on forever. These are good reasons to be upset and even better reasons for doing something useful about it.
I am privileged to know Dr Shiling Chen who founded the Happee Hearts Movement, Singapore’s first community-based healthcare service focused on adults with ID and their caregivers. From a strong medical background but little commercial experience Shiling set out to change the lives of those caught in a medico-socio trap. It was incredibly difficult. Shilling has plenty of SBD*. Thank God. She has had help, of course, but the driving force is her. I have seen Shiling upset, desperate for support, wondering if she would ever succeed.
I have never heard Shiling rant. She is a wonderful example of Rooted Effort.
To turn one rant into a Rooted Effort would prove the worth of the cause. It would also demonstrate our own SBD*. We are going to need that more than ever in 2026.
May you have plenty of SBD* for the coming year.
And may your Rooted Effort bring you the happiness nothing else can.
Bless you.
Good morning
John Bittleston
*P.S. Don’t be daft, of course you know what it means: Sheer Bloody Determination
Feel free to tell us about it at [email protected].
01 January 2026
