Welcome to 2009

by Keith Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, January 2, 2009

By the time this issue reaches your hands, the last lights of 2008 will have flickered and faded into history while 2009 will have begun to stretch its shadow toward the future.

My brother and I have written about 25 editions of our column since we took a look back at 2007 last December, and speculated about what was in store for the year ahead. It has been an interesting year with its ups and downs.

Previous years in the Bush era were consumed with anguish and conflict over wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 2008 was different, with its focus on the economy. The United States began the year in a state of denial about the recession. Politicians, pundits and media danced around the dreaded “R” word as if not naming it could somehow make it untrue. The sad fact is that it was as true on January 1, 2008 as it was on December 31, 2008.

Years and years of policy had built an economy on the backs of consumers at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. The slowing growth and negative growth (the latter an oxymoron only an economist could craft) were signs that the lower and middle classes could no longer bear the burden. A collapse was inevitable. When this financial and economic collapse came in September its scope was wide, snaring wealthy and poor alike and impacting the world economy in a way no economic downturn in history has. And even the brightest among economists aren’t predicting how bad it will get or how long it will last.

Another sad fact was that economic woes took center stage, fading from discussion issues like our unjust war in Iraq. Oh, there was plenty of talk in the media, from the White House and from the presidential campaign trail about the success of the military surge. The fact remains that even the reduced level of violence is much higher than the pre-invasion levels. The infrastructure of the war-torn Iraq is still in disrepair. And the war brought pockets of al Qaeda, religious extremists, and other terrorists to the nation.

Iraqi sentiment about our occupation is evident even beyond the outburst of the shoe-wielding journalist at a recent press conference in Iraq. Despite the threat of a resurgence of sectarian violence and terrorism upon the departure of U.S. and coalition forces, the Iraqi government made it clear this year that they want us out. Denying the United States its imperialist claim to victory, the sovereign nation has set a date certain for our withdrawal.

There were bright spots in 2008. The Beijing Olympics brought the world together for a spectacle of competition and entertainment. Stars like Michael Phelps kept us glued to our television sets and distracted us from our problems and from the controversy over China’s abhorrent human rights record. Those stars shone brightly enough to pierce the clouds of polluted smog that shrouded the Olympic Village.

Then there was the historic presidential primary that produced the first African American nominee. Later, an even more historic general election gave us president elect Barack Obama. Some still claim the responsibility for the election’s results rests in the media’s lopsided coverage of the campaigns. Perhaps this is another case of denial. It is clear to most that a nation frustrated by policies that created a destructive economic model, and that weakened the U.S. stance abroad, chose real change.

As 2009 begins that change, I feel optimistic, even though I understand well that challenges persist. The economy is in dire straits and beyond solutions like corporate bailouts and $300 stimulus checks.

Threats that the United States invited, remain. Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran are problems that must be dealt with intelligently and pragmatically regardless of what led to the current unrest. Israel and Palestine continue to wage their centuries-old conflict with bombings and bloodshed. The United States yet lags behind other developed nations when it comes to education and giving our youth the tools to birth the creativity and ingenuity to solve the world’s problems.

We will need leadership that sets aside politics for pragmatism. We will need leaders who look beyond the tired practices of the past toward new visions. We will need real change.

As much as I believe that Obama represents real change, I know that no one man can bring reform. We all need to work to be the change we wish to see in the world. But I am confident that an Obama administration will not be a barrier to that change and may even help to facilitate it.

Hopefully, we will look back in twelve months at a brighter year than 2008.