The End of a Decade...

Hard to believe the decade is ending.  I must be getting old because I come to the end of this year with no anticipation of this historic milestone.

Folks don't seem to be that excited about it, either.  The decade saw the real purchasing power of the middle class actually decline (adjusted for inflation) for about the first time since the great depression.  It saw the institutions of our government used to give a lot of money to bankers who really don't deserve it, and left the tab to be paid by our children, who clearly don't deserve it.

I came of age when Viet Nam was wrapping up.  We were out by the time I was 9 years old.  Since then, America has enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity.  However, we have lost both in the past 10 years.  My son doesn't know what it means to live in a nation that is not at war.  Prosperity seems like a dream of a bygone era, with nobody really knowing how we can find it again.

Lots of stuff to be depressed about, really. 

Still, I have to admit, as decades go, this one wasn't all that bad for me.

First and foremost, I have a son, now.  A product of this decade, born just a few months before the attacks of 9/11.  I couldn't be happier with the blessings that fate has bestowed upon me in regards to Logan.  He's a good looking, smart, athletic, kind hearted little man who is rapidly growing into a fine young man. 

Professionally, I started the decade with a promotion to divisional IT management with a company I loved.  4 years into the decade, I left my comfortable corporate nest and into pursuing my life's work as an entrepreneur.  I've never been happier.  I've enjoyed more success as an entrepreneur than I ever could have as a corporate guy.  Mostly, I'm doing something I love and my life is exactly what I had always hoped it could become.  I just need to keep doing what it takes to grow my business interests. 

If I ever had to work a job again, it wouldn't be the worst thing.  However, nothing can compare to these last 5 years as head of a company that I own.

My life took an unexpected turn with me joining the military again.  This time as an officer in the Navy Reserve.  Go figure.  I am honored and blessed to have the opportunity to serve.

Beyond that, what now?  I think we've got our share of challenges ahead of us.  The Obama team has proven that they were no more ready for the job than most presidents.  The past year of bungling was, actually, to be expected from a team of rookies, but I think they'll get better at it.

One thing that I don't think will stay with us for much of the next decade is the Democrat Congress, which is giving the American people every reason to boot them unceremoniously to the curb. 

Our nation is spending like drunken sailors and a lot of people, myself included, are dissillusioned with how the priority has been to preserve mutlimillion dollar bonuses, then make a token effort at the sufferring of the middle class. 

We are in an economic hole.  I am loathe to say that things are worse than ever.  I think that's an easy head-fake to fall for.  We've been in bad shape before.  One advantage of having grown up in the 1970s is that I have some passing familiarity with what it's like to live in a country with a crap economy that shows no sign of ever recovering, meanwhile being told to accept that the US will soon become an also-ran economic power of no consequence.

When I was a kid, we were hammered constantly with how the Japanese and Germans were kicking our butts and how their kids were smarter and harder working than we were. 

We raised the stakes, became the hardest working people in the world, and innovated a PC revolution, followed by an internet revolution.  Both of them became not just engines of economic prosperity in the US, but a true gift for the betterment of all mankind.

Germany and Japan?  They're still there, but their accomplishments are virtually non-existent next to ours.  The prognosticators sure got that one wrong.

Just as I'm dead certain that they've got it wrong when they tell us that China and India are going to start eating our lunch.  Sorry, but it's easy to get 10% economic growth when you are transitioning from an economy based on 10th century agriculture to 21st century manufacturing.  However, both societies have no respect for intellectual property, are incapable of paying market-rates for medicine, and are so fearful of our ability to kick their butts technologically that they prohibit us from owning anything in their countries.

You just don't need to get apoplectic about economies where the per capita gdp is the same as that in sub saharan africa. 

The only thing I see that's totally different now is that our deficit spending is absolutely unprecedented.  Democrats rightly chastized Dubya for being the most irresponsible president, ever, on fiscal issues, then proceeded to produce a president who makes Dubya look like Hoover. 

So, what is in store?  I see more cause for optimism for myself than pessimism.  I'm fortunate in a lot of regards.  While I believe the Democrats just threw the entire country under the bus on health care, at least for the time being, I've got employer-sponsored health care that's the best I've ever had, at a cost that's amazingly affordable.

The democrats have hastened health care armageddon, but once it comes, we'll be forced to deal with it.  They were well intentioned, but like Democrats have been for the entirety of my life, they're too stupid to lead.  I shouldn't have expected anything else. 

The budget deficits?  Sheesh, what to say about that.  I don't see how that won't be a train wreck, but who knows what the world will look like 50 years from now. 

All in all, though, I'm hopeful that things will improve.  I am always loathe to criticize politicians since there's no way in hell I'd want to be one.  Given the realities of the job, it's small wonder we get the corrupt dimwits we get. 

Maybe we'll have a true leader emerge.  I haven't seen one since Reagan and before him, the last ones were probably Kennedy and Johnson.  Clinton was competent, but no leader.  Dubya was neither competent nor a leader.  Obama is considerably less of a leader than Dubya was. 

In the mean time, I get to do work I love, which is meaningful to me, and that provides a lot of good in my community.  I get to raise a child who has brought me nothing but joy.  I have a fabulous family and circle of friends.

My blessings are many.  So, I face the new decade with hope.  One of those hopes is that the decade is good to all of us.