The Last Decade...What Will We Remember?

When I think about the past decade, 2000-2009, it's hard to think about anything good that has happened on a global scale. The list of negatives is long, and filled with situations that won't change overnight.

Unemployment in 2000 was at 6.1%, a 30 year low. Now it is over 11% (some think that's a low estimate), a 26 year high. In 2000, foreclosures were already the highest in history, but 2009 finds foreclosures topping the 1million mark for the first time ever. This is due to predatory lending, the recession, and the jobless rate. What a mess.

Global warming has led to the hottest decade in history. Each decade gets warmer than the one before it. Melting polar icecaps not only are ruining the Artic landscape, they are reducing the number of polar bears in the wild.

2000 found America at peace, and the envy of most of the world. 2010 finds America at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no end in sight. Our reputation as a peace loving nation has been deeply tarnished, and is just beginning to be restored. Sounds like a pretty gloomy scene, but wait, I haven't mentioned 911.

September 11, 2001 was an event that changed the world forever. Jet planes slamming into the Twin Towers, another plane trying to hit the Pentagon, changed America and the world forever. Our country declared a "War on terror", that we will probably be fighting for the rest of our lives. Who could you trust? We were told to watch for suspicious people. What exactly were we looking for? We are a nation of immigrants. Anyone can blend into American society. So how has this changed us? The worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil has changed us in many ways.

I will remember that during this decade, the way we do everything, changed. Visitors are searched at government buildings, trunks are searched when entering a high rise office building, fans are searched at football games, everyone is under scrutiny at the airport, on trains, and so on. Will travel ever be what it was pre 911? Young American students wandering the world in search of adventure can never be as carefree as they used to be. Older Americans are subject to questioning wherever they go. Things will never be the same, as the war on terror is never ending.

Some good has come out of this past decade. Americans are consciously trying to help the environment, many laws have been passed to this end. Everyone I know is working to be green in some way or another. People are building and remodeling using sustainable products. This is huge, and if they can bring the cost down on some of the building products, even more people would get involved.

Many of us have become more concerned with the quality of our food, how it is grown and where it comes from . That means that more people are eating healthy, although the percentage of young diabetics wouldn't make you think so. I feel that many people at the local level, are trying to help those that are in need more than ever before. Many groups are trying to help military families and returnees in a way that the government has not. So there are many out there who are trying help those in need. This all gives me hope that we may recover from the mess we're in. If each of us helps in a small way it can make a world of difference. I hope we look back over the first decade of the 21st century and see it as a turning point in creating a better world, a more peaceful world.