Light at the end of the tunnel?
As I sit here looking out on the snow covered sycamores just a few hours post-liberation from the dark days of Bush and the dawn of Obama -- it seems certain that these unprecedented circumstances will bring profound changes at every level.
The 44th Inaugural was awesome!
This was not just about the joy and hope of long last having intelligent people leading the country again - there was a huge outpouring and sigh of relief from the evil, pain, and greed inflicted on our nation and the world by Bush/Cheney over eight long years.
They have left behind such a legacy of decay and bad karma that it will take more than a generation to recover. How do we transform an instant gratification consumer culture populated by lazy over-fed oil-addicted people into a nation of hard work, sacrifice, integrity, and common purpose?
It won't be easy and it will require doing things differently; some of those things would be familiar to our grandparent's generation.
Change will be forced upon us and change will be voluntary. All the good change will be about sustainability. The ones who embrace and create change will come out on the other side of the transformation stronger and better prepared to do more with less (consume less - do more).
The paradigm shift will cause a lot of pain and a lot of people will everything in their power to prevent change (conservative republicans, white supremacists, NASCAR fans, etc.).
As difficult and uncertain these times promise to be there is one thing that won't change: intelligent people will continue to want to work for a better community, a cleaner stream, healthier forest, a more prosperous garden. That's a good thing. We'll have to work extra hard and be willing agents of change.
It will take a remarkable leader to get us there. One can hope.
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