In an age of intense political divisions and polarization, it can be easy to yearn for simpler times and even the “good old days.” In actuality, our ancestors faced their own challenges and wrestled with differences that may have felt like obstacles to the future.

Once again, the federal government faces a shutdown of important services — only this time there are two precipices from which the nation will plunge if Congress doesn’t act. Under a complex short-term spending measure adopted in November, funding for some departments will run out on Jan. 19 while for other departments the deadline is Feb. 2. For Americans dependent on government services and federal paychecks, Congress must again pull the country back from the brink.

As we honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday this Monday with a federal holiday, there will be programs, pageantry and celebrations for a man who expressed a powerful dream in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But that dream remains largely unfulfilled.

January is the month to sign up for stuff you’re probably not going to keep doing later. Like cooking class or hot yoga. It’s also the month for setting goals, especially at work, where goals often come with lunch and a side of office politics.

From so-called vaccine skeptics like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to anti-vaccine advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., some politicians are hoping to gain political power by exploiting the misguided fears of worried parents and the curdled selfishness of American individualism exemplified by the anti-vaxxer movement.

Faced with looming deadlines to produce a federal budget, the top Republican in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the top Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, agree that Pentagon funding for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1 should be $886 billion.

On Oct. 17, the North Carolina Court of Appeals terminated a woman’s parental rights because of abuse that occurred when she was 4 months pregnant. Why? Because, as the court ruled, “life begins at conception.”

As a new presidential election year begins, America’s Republicans have already chosen their candidate. According to every poll, the rank-and-file have overwhelmingly united behind former President Donald J. Trump.

With a new year comes hope in the White House that Americans will eventually buy into “Bidenomics.” For instance, President Joe Biden would no doubt love to pose for pictures in front of some of the new projects funded by his $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.

In 2000, Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam baritone and outspoken proponent of abortion rights, threatened to move to “a different country” if George W. Bush were elected president.

Making meaningful progress in the lives of New Yorkers, for the second year running, murders and shootings have gone down. And unlike 2022’s drops, 2023’s — homicides down 11% year over year, shootings down 24% — were accompanied by declines in most other types of crime. Unfortunately, there were exceptions: Assaults went up modestly, and car thefts jumped significantly.

Twenty years ago, when I was hiring teachers for the private K-12 school I founded, I knew better than to recruit certified teachers. Why?