I’m definitely not taking the nihilistic view that nothing matters. It’s nonsensical to jump to such a conclusion.
Of course, the widescale behavior of people does matter, but it is specifically the behavior of people that matters (and such behavior may be flexible, even if enshrined in ritual and tradition) and not just the calendar date in itself that creates the effect.
However, even still, there are powerful forces of nature, such as the quickly progressing pandemic and the slowly progressing climate catastrophe, that are very difficult to handle, requiring the whole of humanity to collectively rise to meet such challenges, and cannot be so easily shaped to meet our schedules and deadlines.
Many things are possible, although many are not easy nor likely.
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