The “Decade from Hell”?

by Keith Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, January 7, 2010

Whenever we reach a milestone it seems natural to take time for foresight and reflection. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century – two milestones in one – we find it an even more monumental event.

A recent article in Time magazine referred to the first decade of the millennium as the “decade from Hell” among other descriptions. While some have seen my critical eye as pessimism, I cannot, with such a broad stroke, label the entire period as a dismal disaster.

Looking back on the past ten years I see highlights as well as low points. In my personal life I have had successes and achieved goals. I have celebrated blessings and good fortune. I have cherished the warmth of family and friends. As a nation we have witnessed triumphs as well as tribulations. Throughout the world a similar mix of positive and negative was experienced with global successes and failures.

After much fear and anticipation about the potential disaster the Y2K “bug” would bring, time ticked after midnight on 01/01/2000 with nothing of consequence. Then we continued to party like it was 1999.

Trouble came early in 2000 as the technology bubble burst, dashing the relative economic success of the Clinton years and sending the country into a mild recession. This occurred when many new media ventures and technology businesses were just taking off. While some accrued wealth and fortune other fledglings were swallowed in the collapse.

Politically, the decade began with a race that was disappointing to me personally. Only after years of hindsight do I now realize the folly of an administration with Senator Joe Lieberman a heartbeat away from the helm. Lieberman’s spineless caving to right wing bullying and his obstruction of progressive legislation would have been disastrous for the nation and have led me to graciously accept Al Gore’s loss of the Supreme Court battle.

There were, of course, undeniable tragedies in the ’00s. Most prominent were the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This was a dark day for the nation and a dark day for the world. The severity of our grief was softened only slightly by the spirit of unity that seemed to bridge our differences.

Unfortunately, this sense of goodwill was short-lived as the attacks were manipulated to springboard the nation into fear and rage, and then into two wars that have cost precious lives and billions of dollars.
A war in Afghanistan made sense when terrorist perpetrators were believed to be holed up within its borders. Allowing these masterminds to slip through our fingers out of neglect, however, was a tragic mistake. The spectacle that was the war in Iraq was a costly misdirection of resources, designed to take advantage of the rage and fear that gripped America at the time.

The success of the campaign used to market the Iraq war inspired by the same technique to justify any number of previously unthinkable acts. An administration that accepted preemptive aggression as a foreign policy officially sanctioned torture in the rendition of prisoners to nations who openly practiced the most extreme techniques. It implicitly encouraged extreme interrogation techniques by blurring lines of ethics and morality and applying a “by any means” attitude that led to atrocities like those committed in Abu Ghraib. The administration then set out to prosecute those ensnared at the bottom of the chain of command while attempting to wash its hands clean of blood and shame.

The decade was also peppered with other disasters such as the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, and the abysmal reaction by FEMA and the Bush administration. To be fair, the blame for much of the destruction and flooding rests in previous local, state and federal administrations that chose to neglect the decay and inadequacy of levees.

Economic and financial troubles plagued the country as well. Greed and a reliance on the market to police itself led to a collapse, which gathered steam and momentum in 2008 and plunged the United States into a deep recession (despite all attempts to avoid the “R” word). Shockwaves created by our excess and neglect rocked the global economic picture creating an atmosphere unprecedented in its scope. While measures have been taken to address the worsening recession, and while some indicators point to a recovery, the continued signs of decline in other areas is a testament to the severity of the situation. This is the consequence of unbridled greed and avarice, and it is clear to almost everyone who really believes in personal responsibility that business as usual is unsustainable.

The decade ended with the inauguration and beginning of a presidency that is historic in its importance. Critics of Barack Obama can complain about whatever favorable media coverage he has enjoyed during the campaign and his brief honeymoon period after his election. However, it is impossible to ignore that the fact that an African-American has attained the nation’s highest office has meaning and impact.

It is true that the hope for real change has been, as yet, unfulfilled. Much is still wrong in the world. Many hunger. Peace is still a conquest and not reality. Many suffer needlessly without access to sufficient healthcare. Jobless rates would be too high at half their current levels. Solutions to these problems are not visible on the near horizon.

But now that we have stood and looked back – now that we have sufficiently cursed the darkness – let us turn to that horizon. 2010 is the beginning of a new decade. Let us seize that opportunity and become part of the solution. Let us trade obstructive division for constructive action. Let us turn idle criticism into active citizenship. We can still hope for a brighter tomorrow. Perhaps in 2020, we can proudly reflect on the products of real change.