And just like that, January has come and gone. Named for the Roman god Janus, the two-faced deity of dawns, births, weddings, and new ventures, it's a month can feel both energising and chaotic. Fitting, given the poet Ovid claimed Janus was fashioned out of primordial disorder at the dawn of existence; anyone stumbling through those murky post-holiday weeks can relate.
Days blur. Invitations go unanswered. We hardly know which deadline is next.
Small wonder, then, that Janus also governed transitions and endings, boundaries, gates, thresholds, and bridges. The Latin root for door, ianua, gives us his name; Janus was literally the 'doorman' (ianitor), granting or denying access to celestial realms. Yet Janus, with his two faces, also represents that most egregious of contemporary sins: hypocrisy.
The charge flashes across our screens daily: politicians who preach austerity while basking in largesse, celebrities championing green causes while hopping private jets, policymakers waltzing around regulations. The list is endless. Try it.
Open your web browser and do a news search for 'hypocrisy.' You'll find endless exposés: the Left for Biden's family pardons, the Right for the GOP's betrayal of values in US Senate nominations, Congress members trading stocks. No corner is exempt.
And that doesn't even touch on that prized artifact in our modern news cycle, the 'gotcha' moment, landing with special force when a public figure's actions clash with their carefully curated persona..
