Time Magazine is touting the past ten years as one of the worst decades ever. (See here). I can’t say I disagree. We opened the decade with a stolen election, developed a deep intimacy of a hanging chad, experienced the worst act of terrorism on American soil, entered into two drawn out wars with massive losses of life ( one of my law school classmates died early on in Afghanistan), saw the collapse of Enron and Worldcom who took the savings of hardworking people with them, had a financial meltdown, and the King of Pop died. Damn, what else is there to live for?
But I must say, 2008 was the best year. Watching the most historic presidential campaign ever was edge-of-the-seat good. And when we voted for change, I had chills. And I know Obama’s administration is not going to solve all our problems and nothing is going to happen overnight. Contrary to some, he is not in fact a “magical negro.” But I think we can now approach pressing issues with more thought, planning, enlightenment, intelligence, and dare I say hope.
Here’s hoping the next 10 years will be better than we could imagine.
Happy New year.
