The Decade of our Discontent

It is with a sigh of relief, and hope for the future, that we are saying goodbye to 2009, and a decade from hell. The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in an era of peace, and with that era of peace came the peace dividend. Going into the new millennium, the United States was running a government surplus, and the economy was booming thanks to the advent of the digital age and the resultant increase in productivity that blew corporate earnings estimates through the roof. The stock market soared, and we all got rich.

Politically, the country was worried about sex in the oval office, and sharks going up the east coast of the United States. Europe was free and reuniting. Freedom and democracy were in ascendency. The United States was the sole world super power. It was a brief, shining moment in American history.

Things turned south starting with the 2000 presidential election. A constitutional crisis loomed as Bush and Gore brought us to the brink through legal maneuvering as to who won Florida’s electoral votes, and the presidential election. Sensing a pending doom, the Supreme Court of the United States cherry picked the case, and awarded Florida’s electoral votes to Bush, although Gore won the popular vote nationally. I believe the Supremes were on firm legal ground for what they did and the conclusion they reached, but it tore the country apart.

The following September, we learned that the fairytale world of peace and security was just an illusion, as radical Muslim fundamentalists succeeded in the most devastating attack ever on the American homeland by a foreign adversary. This time the enemy wasn't a country, but a bunch of religious fanatics; a much stealthier foe.

It seemed downhill from there. The stock market crashed. The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to almost zero setting the stage for what would become the financial collapse of September, 2008, which almost brought down the entire world economy. Between now and then, Enron collapsed causing turmoil in the energy markets. And other American business icons pounded on the government door for survival money, as Lehman Brothers bankrupted itself, along with General Motors and Chrysler. The pillars of American capitalism crumbled around the carcass of once mighty Wall Street.

Financial, political and cultural scandals headlined the news on an almost daily basis, culminating the largest financial scam of all, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Billions of dollars just disappeared, and his wealthy investors, many of them retired, ended up broke and living on social security checks.

In the meantime, the country went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq as nuclear proliferation among radical Muslim countries made the cold war look like a walk in the park. Even as those wars continue, the country now faces deadly turmoil in Pakistan and Yemen, and the big Kahuna of Islamic nut cases…Iran.

In the midst of all of this, America elected its first black President chanting a charismatic mantra of hope and change. What we got was an ideological despot who seems hell bent on carrying out a radical, liberal agenda through extreme health care and environmental policies as the economy continues to head south. Obama's popularity ratings have fallen farther faster than any other President in United State history. The extreme politicization of our government processes will play out again next fall when America will most likely, and reluctantly, turn right again, causing gridlock in the Washington…which almost sounds attractive.

As we enter the last year of the old decade, or the first year of the new decade depending on which pundit you are listening too, there is one thing about which you can be sure: the old Chinese adage of "may you live in interesting times" applies to us. Maybe that's why they have so much of our currency!

God bless America, and here’s hoping for better times ahead.