Every once in a while, the me-in-my-futurist-hat decides to check in on current actions to see if they’ll lead to a good future. I have to say I’m quite pleased. Shortly after Obama was elected, I blogged about how it felt like I was, once again, living in the America I grew up in. That America had hope and believed in science and wanted to be good. Somehow in the middle we became afraid and retreated from science because it did have unexpected and sometimes poor consequences. But we threw the whole idea of science out instead of just the parts that didn’t work. Then we got scared, and no longer clung to high ideals in the face of minor bullies.
Now I not only feel like we’re back, but we have actions to prove it. Here are a few examples:
This Administration keeps its promises. No torture. No more extreme limits on stem cell research. No more unilateral bullying on the international front (but we’re not being wimps, either). The EPA acknowledging that climate change might actually be partly our fault and maybe we should do something about it.
A lot of the stimulus funding is going toward good long-term healthy stuff.  Infrastructure. Changing our energy structures. Helping people work.
I loved the rescue by Navy Seals– that’s the first hostage in a while where we just took decisive action (see – we’re not being wimps).
The economy feels like it’s turning. This much reliance on Keynesian economics is scary, but it’s more logical than the trickle-down theory ever was. I suspect the risks will pay off and we’ll win more than we lose. Note that I still think (as I said in my forecast for the year) that the shocks may not be over. But we are likely to live.
So I’m pretty happy this morning, and I think America, and the world, ought to be pretty happy this morning, too.
“MmmfmfmamafFMMmmmm.” I was drooling, I’m not sure if it was the drugs or that secretary dancing around taking instant x-rays of herself, fluttering to the floor like leaves, maybe both. Kyle was laughing, Korenby was pleading.
“Get me out of here. Please. I just want to work with my hands again. I just-
Crackling sounds, the sound of a ball-bearing getting loose from a high-speed hard drive and flying around the computer like pinball. Fans whirring out of control.
“THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY IS THE BEST TECHNOLOGY ISN’T THAT RIGHT KORENBY??!!”
As a member of the Millennial Generation, I feel optimistic about the fact that things seem to be changing… though my optimism is more about regular folks’ attitudes and behaviors changing. As for the government’s actions, I’m moderately/cautiously optimistic, but I’m still cynical. Maybe it’s because George W. Bush was president my entire adult life, and hence – at least by my view of the world – I’m totally unfamiliar with the concept of a U.S. federal government doing good for the people.
Thanks for the great post – whatever its source, optimism feels pretty good!
Well, maybe I’m less jaded since I work for the government, although I’ll admit it’s a local one and very different than the feds. But we have a lot of people who really do want to do good. We raise money for the hungry (as staff), we try to design nice parks and efficient transportation. We have a ton of people interested in green building and green everything else. Our Council wants to do good, and even in their most dysfunctional moments (and there are a few) the failure is that what”good” is isn’t obvious in some situations.
You grew up under evil. I am not sure I grew up under a “good” president, although Clinton looks good in retrospect. Carter was truly well-intentioned. I think Reagan probably was, too, at least a bit. Bush was vaguely if not actively evil.