To welcome in the new year, people all over the world like to watch fireworks, which, as Oscar Wilde pointed out, have one big advantage over the stars; namely, you always know precisely when they are going to appear in the sky.
But, having said that, public displays - no matter how spectacular - soon bore and disappoint and one can't help wondering at the politics of the event and the psychology of people who stand in the cold gazing upwards with their mouths open, fascinated by bright lights and loud bangs; content to obey their leaders for another twelve months thanks to the promise of panem et pyrotechnics.
New Year's Eve makes North Koreans of us all ...
