ON TRANSITION
I sense a strange feeling anticipation or movement in our national self at the moment, as if we are waiting for something to happen.
It is natural, I think, for us to think it might it has something to do with our 9-11 tragedies. That may well have some merit because we do wonder what the next attack may be - when and where, in particular.
It is good that we are aware of the fact that such a thing might well occur in our future but, by and large, we are not a worry-wart type of people. We have some individuals who will dwell on worst case examples but most of us are willing to prepare for whatever seem possible with the best defense arrangement we can make.
On the whole Christmas shopping was down this year and that is viewed by some as indication of a lack of confidence in our future. Could be, but it could also mean the we're making preparations for the future far more seriously than we may have in past years. We have just come through an election cycle in which almost half of the population was evidently led to accept the politically pontificated idea that we were a nation on the very edge of financial ruin and likely not to outlast the year. If it could be shown on a graph we would see such a loss of direction following most national elections which dwell to party-rigidly on a poor economy. We are, on might say, in that doldrum of post-election droop during which people have to regain confidence in their nations money.
The recent clearing of the decks for Term Two with new members of the President's cabinet being put in place is indicative of the transitions taking place all around. Advisers, remember, come in various types. There are some who are especially fitting for take-over and start-up times; but there are others better qualified to deal with continuing relationships.
There is a positive fact or associated with the choice in the Department of State, where Rice will continue and augment that Powell helped to put in place. She has analytical expertize he did not count among his many talents. Those talent he does possess will be used elsewhere and his work will be nourished, sustained and brought to maturity. Defense has had to defend itself, which is not all that unusual after of our wars. Ashcroft remains, however and that is a firm choice.
You see, we are, indeed, “in transition”, with even the usually cocksure media attempting to define what it is the ought to be, wants to be or will have to be to survive. It is almost as if we have suddenly realized that the “terrorist” threat is not the only one that places our future in hazard, but the inept ways in which we have dealt with our problems in recent decades.
Religious groups, business establishments, social organizations,recreational havens and many individuals are in self-study state right now. Many of us are making plans to ensure the future will be better. They will be expressed verbally as we arrive at the happy new year marked “2005!”
A. L. M. December 26, 2004 [c549wds]
