I watched the president tonight and couldn't help but think about all the changes, or lack of changes, that have happened in our country over the past 10 years. Now, I'm sure life wasn't just a bowl of cherries 1o years ago, but the overall outlook on life, and our country just seemed so much more cheerful and positive. Now we've gone so far in decline that our president admits that we have a dysfunctional government, the only way we can avert a credit crisis is by raising our debt limit, and we're still going to loose all kinds of program funding.
In those 10 years, I've been through war, broken off an engagement, finished a master's degree, moved states, married, and well, there's so much I could keep going on and on. I guess it makes sense that the world doesn't stay still, but why can't I, or anyone else (at least on the news anyway) see a way to a brighter future?
There are times when I get stuck in my own muck. Fourth of July is always hard, and it really hasn't been our favorite year so far. But even my own muck goes away when I look at things from a different perspective. For example, I read one article that has helped me look at my PTSD firework experience from another angle. It turns out the survivors of the World Trade Center attack have the same problems as I do. Somehow, by understanding what others have gone through, I get a new take on my own circumstances. When we realize that something is wrong with us, we look for ways to fix it. We diet when overweight. We cut back when money is tight. We can see when things are going down the tube and make changes.
But where is that perspective for our nation? How do we get past this bout of national depression? Can we, as the president asked, find compromise and build our nation back together? Or will we remain isolated and angry as we dwell on all the evils that, over the past 10 years, have gone our way. The most frustrating thing about government is this feeling of complete lack of control. Was life better 10 years ago, or did we have more faith in our system of government? How do we get ourselves back to our pre-war selves? How do we heal?
Lots of questions, but not a lot of answers. What do you think? Please weigh in and let me know how you see our current situation, and how you see our future.
1 comment:
I've long had the impression that 10 years ago, the country was blindly spending its way to happiness without much thought for the future. The real estate market kept going up and up and up (and no one stopped to question when it would come back down, down, down). The country was like a college freshman who's just applied for their first credit card.
When reality hits and the bills come due, everyone tucks tail and runs and hopes that it will go away. Politicians just bicker about who is to blame (and it's always anyone except themselves). Then the media picks up on the problem and starts spewing doomsday prophecies that make everyone think that the world is going to end and soon we'll be owned by China, and people start believing it all.
*sigh* I don't think that things were better 10 years ago, or now. Just different.
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