Wow, it's been quite a year. It's been quite an eight years too. Strange as it may seem, especially if you've read some of my other writing recently, I'm actually optimistic about 2009, both in my personal life and in the world at large. No, I don't have my head in the sand, not at all. You'll have to trust me on that one.
Since life is nothing if not a contradiction, let me now say the future looks pretty bleak. Even an economic dummy like me can see that the coming depression has only begun. The signs of global climate change are, quite literally, all around us. The Bush administration's assault on our constitutional rights and their apparently successful attempts to insulate themselves from being held accountable, have left our Government in shambles. We're fighting war on two fronts with Chinese money. We're short on soldiers and long on debt because of it. No, I'm no Pollyanna.
Good news though, is on the horizon. We only need survive twenty one more days without another major setback and hope is on its way. I'd like to believe that our new President will wave his magic wand and restore all of our rights, fix the climate and our economy, and while he's at it, bring back the 2300 + US soldiers and 98,000 + civilian casualties in Iraq. Maybe Santa Obama can bring me a new motorcycle too. Obviously, that's not going to happen.
No, it's not going to be easy to undo the damage that Bush has done and so much of it will never be undone. We can't bring back the dead, for example. It's unimaginable that this guy sleeps at night knowing that over 100,000 human beings are dead because of his arrogant insistence on a needless war. He says he sleeps very well.
Now I hear Bush is working on his legacy, expecting to walk away unscathed, believing that history will judge his holy war as the right thing to do. This is why religion is so dangerous. Silly me, I thought we hung people for treason?
See how hard it is not to digress, even when I'm trying to write an optimistic piece? I wasn't happy when Bush overthrew our legitimate Government in 2000 but in my worst nightmares I could never have guessed just how badly he could mess the world up. I know rash statement like that take away from my credibility but how is it not a coup when he loses the election and becomes President anyway? And how can manufacturing evidence to gain support for the War in Iraq, resulting in all those aforementioned deaths, be anything less treasonous? What traitor has ever damaged the US more than Bush? Do I sound pissed. HELL yes!
Alright, alright, back to the optimism. We finally have a President-elect with an IQ higher than mine. That's not a brag folks, we need someone a whole lot smarter than me to deal with this mess. Unlike Bush, I can form complete sentences all on my very own, but that doesn't make either of us geniuses.
While President Obama won't have that magic wand, he does seem to have a firm grasp on our challenges and a determination to take them on. I'd love to see a more liberal lean to his Presidency but let's be real, we won't get anything done that far from the center, at least not right now. I fully expect things to get worse before they get better. No, my optimism is not of the Pollyanna variety so much as my belief, or maybe just hope, that there is a 'better" to follow. Through the lens of the last eight years, that would be a very radical change and it's about as optimistic as it gets these days.
On the personal front, I'm very concerned about what will happen as the economy continues to plunge. My self-employment situation is certainly vulnerable. I'm working full time for one client while I prepare to find others before the full time project is finished. Meanwhile, my client's business is down 40% from a year ago and that seems to be the norm in the industry. Finding new clients is always hard and will be even harder now. When I do find clients, getting paid may well be a bigger problem than in the past. Obviously, you can see my optimism, right?
My personal finances aren't all they could be but they could be a lot worse. Since my wife's income is assured, at worst, we won't lose our house, whatever happens in the economy... I think. That puts us well ahead of an awful lot of the country so I'll count my blessing and hope to minimize the damage when things get worse, as they inevitably will. Thankfully, my motorcycle is paid for so it's safe too. How can I not feel good about that? So I hope to survive the worse part on our way to the better part. Hey, it's a depression folks, I'll take that.
Most of my extended family will be okay too, I hope. My mother has a secure income, my daughter is doing well and works in a profession unlikely to get the worst of the hard times to come. My wife's children will survive, even if they need some help from us. They're young and resilient. We have our first grandchild on the way. I've finished my book and it's on the internet and getting good reviews from readers. I hope to see it published soon. So yes, I do see good things ahead.
I don't remember any time in my life when what was happening politically seemed so directly relevant to my own personal situation. I guess that's what happens in depressions. I remember some pretty hard times for everyone in the 70's and I've had some personal hard times of my own that I hope never to repeat, but this is on a whole new scale for those of us who weren't around for the last depression.
I generally have little faith in the intelligence of American voters so I am amazed that at this time, when it was so important, somehow, the right candidate was not only present but elected. It's nothing short of a miracle, given our voting history and the choices we typically have to vote for.
That, my friends, in the face of these terrible times, is the source of my optimism. Maybe I should call it guarded optimism and that may be as good as it gets these days.
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