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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
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It seems as though we have been drowning in bad news these past few months. Everywhere we turn there are stories of businesses failing and jobs lost. It would seem there is little for which to be hopeful.
Given all of the really serious stuff today, it may, on the surface at least, appear a bit odd to have a feature story about a trip to a psychic on the front page. It would be easy to fill the pages of this newspaper with bad news - but sometimes we could use a break - and a vicarious trip to an obscure town in Florida to visit a psychic is about as far away from Wall Street as we can get. The bigger point is, despite what you may have read, we are not going to hell in a hand basket. My hope is that offering a brief respite will help to keep that perspective. I hope you enjoy the trip.
Unfortunately, a break is all we can hope for these days. What is happening in our country and around the world is serious stuff.
Right or wrong, we have largely given up on President Bush. Poll results released on Monday revealed that 76 percent of Americans now disapprove of the president. President Bush is not what his detractors make him out to be - he is a remarkably intelligent man who cares deeply about this country and his fellow Americans. Unfortunately for him, not only has he made mistakes along the way, he has been dealt a particularly bad hand over the past eight years.
The economic crisis we are facing is largely a crisis of confidence. We are losing our faith that things will be better tomorrow than they are today. Given the president’s record low approval ratings, there is little hope that he can do much about it in his final few months in office. Even if he tried - and I believe he is trying - not enough people are listening anymore.
I firmly believe that President-elect Barack Obama does have the ability to change all of that - assuming we give him the chance. When he was elected, virtually the entire world cheered. The world looks to America to be the leader - and they are looking for a leader to carry us into a post-September 11 era. Throughout the campaign, Obama inspired millions of people to participate in the electoral process for the first time. As the electorate, we have inspired the world in going beyond the ignorance of our distant past by elevating an African-American to the highest office in the land. The world is once again lining up behind us. Let’s do our part by lining up behind our new president - let’s give him a chance to do what he appears capable of doing. The world is rooting for both him and us.
On Monday, DHL announced they were closing U.S. operations and eliminating 9,500 jobs. The impact of such a move goes well beyond the jobs they cut. One small town in Ohio will be decimated - an enormous percentage of the population will soon lose their jobs with no jobs on the horizon to replace them. That will effect every single business in that town - it is a certainty that more jobs will be lost as a result.
There is nothing we can do about layoffs at a large corporation, but are many things we can do locally. First, if you have a job, take a hard look at what you are doing and redouble your efforts to make things work better. More than ever, the company you work for needs you. This would be the time to ask what more you can do to help.
Second, local businesses need us now like never before. I have made a personal commitment to doing all of my Christmas shopping locally. I will not travel to the city, I will not order presents off the Web - I will support our local businesses. Walmart will survive this recession - in fact, they are thriving through it. Some of our local businesses, however, may not. They will certainly not if we don't support them. Money is tight these days but check with the local shops first - you might be surprised to find that the prices you see aren't really all that different from what you'd find in the big box stores - and the few things that are higher priced tend to be offset by other items that are lower priced.
By pitching in, together we can change things. We must.
Many people emailed to comment on last week's story about the send off ceremony for Chad Landuyt. It was an honor to be present for the ceremony and it was an honor to bring that story to you. The limitations of newsprint and the competing needs of other stories, however, prevented me from telling you the whole story. I would have liked to have told you about watching Chad's two young sons saluting their father as the bus pulled out of the parking lot. I would have loved to tell you about the dignity our soldiers had as they went off to war - surely, to a person, they would have preferred to remain within the comforts and safety of home but they didn't - they left everything they love to serve something something larger than themselves. I would have loved to have gone into more detail about the father and the sons and daughter, seeing Chad gently place his hand on his four-month-old daughter's head just before he boarded the bus.
Seeing that puts things in perspective. The sacrifice of not being able to buy a big screen TV for Christmas kind of pales in comparison to the sacrifice our military makes every single day for us.
Blow off the headlines every now and then. Turn off talk radio for a while and occasionally step away from the nightly news. Despite what you are hearing, we’ll be OK - I know that for certain. If you don’t believe me, I have the telephone number for a good psychic - you can ask him.
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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Skies: CloudyTemperature: 20F -7CDewpoint: 15F -9CRelative Humidity: 81%Wind: CALM at m - 0kBarometric Pressure: 29.72SUpdated: 08:59:48 AM
