Point of view: Stories of the decade

By Richard L. Gilbert

Here’s a test for you. And be honest about it. Jot down the ten most defining news events and happenings of the decade as you saw them. No research, no “Googling,” just instant, top of the mind awareness.

Now, let’s compare.

My list:

1. Sept. 11
2. Bush-Cheney
3. Iraq and Afghanistan
4. Obama
5. The economic meltdown
6. The energy/climate crisis
7. Health reform
8. The cell phone, etc.
9. Radical jihad

It should be mentioned that the first six came easy and No. 7 through No. 10 took a little more thought. No. 10 surprised, but we can’t forget how extremist brutality bloodied the decade and still threatens all; Sept. 11, suicide bombing, indiscriminate targeting of civilians along with attacks on mosques, churches and synagogues.

I’m sure most of your list parallels mine as politics dominated and debased so much of the last 3,650 days. With its own “shock” and “awe,” the decade could also be labeled “the tragic Bush years” as many of W’s disasters still bedevil the world. Granted, Sept. 11 was a shocking, sickening event, but newly released transcripts sadly prove that irresponsibility was evident from the earliest days of the Bush-Cheney administration.

John Farmer, senior counsel to the Sept. 11 commission and dean of the Rutgers School of Law, delivers a scathing verdict in his landmark book, The Ground Truth. He writes, “History should record that whether through unprecedented administrative incompetence or orchestrated mendacity, the American people were mislead about the nation’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks.” Government archives are also proving that Sept. 11 was relentlessly exploited by the Bush administration to be used as a founding myth for the war on terror and to escalate it disastrously from Afghanistan to Iraq.

And now back to Afghanistan with 30,000 additional troops serving as the leadership barometer for Barack Obama. The outlook is not very encouraging. Afghanistan has been chaotic, fractured and insurgent from the time of Alexander the Great, to Genghis Khan, the British Empire, czarist Russia, the Soviet Union and today, the United States. It will play a major role in what is sure to be the Obama decade. Sadly, he has accepted the dictates of his military commanders rather than the more targeted recommendations of the Vice President, who sees Al Qaeda and its Pakistani Taliban partners as the real enemy. Even if President Obama declares that this is no “blank check” for Afghanistan, we’ve gone way off track in thinking we can do nation building in a volatile, insurrectionist environment.

Despite the current disappointment, my confidence in Mr. Obama remains high. Few have come to Washington with a higher level of intelligence, resilience, political insight, or communication skill. And few have been asked to face more formidable challenges

Economic collapse, unemployment, healthcare, two wars, exploding debt, the real estate crash, energy and the environment, international obligations, etc. And across the aisle, an opposition party that would love to see him fail even if the country failed with him. One is reminded of the old story of the drill sergeant who, on seeing a recruit collapse from exhaustion, shouts, “Don’t just lie there. Do push-ups!” And Mr. Obama has been doing just that from the day he took office.

The challenges ahead remain formidable. So, too, the opportunities. One statistic stands out. According to the 2006 U.N. population report, the world will increase by 2.5 billion people, passing from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050. It’s interesting to note that this increase is just about equivalent to the world population in 1950.

Now, think of all the energy required to sustain that growth in addition to the accompanying need for job creation, food, clothing, housing, transportation and the environmental impact. The recent international conference in Copenhagen was a welcome strategic start, particularly with all the young people in attendance.

As parents and grandparents, we always worry about the imperfect world we are leaving to our children, and sometimes fail to appreciate the human and technological genius out there to face that world. In the next decade, youthful concern, commitment and creativity will dominate and it will not be Alice in Wonderland running harder and harder “just to stay in place.” Rather, an exciting, off-the-mark charge into the future with all its mystery, all its promise.

Richard L.Gilbert is a longtime Riverdalian and frequent contributor to Point of view. He is a former advertising executive, author of the memoir, “Marching Up Madison Avenue,” and an advisor to the Board of Riverdale Senior Services.

Point of view is an occasional column open to all readers.

This is part of the December 24, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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