Optimism or Dread

What will we say forty years from now when they ask us, What was it like living at the beginning of the century?

There is so much bad news from so many directions that I find it hard to piece it all together coherently. I cannot weave a story around it all. I can't begin to fashion an answer.

Yet how will we answer that question when they ask? For there will come a time, when the history books have been written and the great movements of our times have been chronicled, there will come a time when the curious will turn to us and ask, What was it really like?

What are the things that worry us? What things give us hope? Will we recall these years as a time of optimism or a time of dread?

I read today that the Statue of Liberty has been closed since 9/11. The Park Service says we are welcome to walk the grounds but the statue is closed, and they won't answer questions about it until they post an update on the monument's web site.[1]  I read that public funds are not available to open it again -- for the security upgrades -- and that private donations are being sought.[2]  Folgers, "America's #1 coffee brand (based on unit sales)" is leading the charge.[3] 

This story is a metaphor for what I see as the dominant themes of our time: the withering of liberty and the transfer of responsibility to corporate America. With this, I find it impossible to feel optimistic, which leaves me with a feeling of dread. And unless something changes (and I pray it will), that will be my answer.

Maybe its just me. But then I didn't ask the question.

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