A terrible decade

In 1999, everything was gravy. The country had money -- crazy money -- and tech stocks were making everyone rich. Hugo Chavez was elected president of Venezuela. Napster was launched. Apple released the first iBook and the Power Mac G4. Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France. Sure, some bad things happened. There were several plane crashes, including one that killed John F. Kennedy Jr. There was a tornado in Salt Lake City and the Yankees won the World Series. But 1999 ended a decade of prosperity and there was hope that the first ten years of the new millennium would bring great things to the United States and to the rest of the world.

But then everything turned to shit. AOL merged with Time Warner. The Rams won the Super Bowl. And in what would become the defining moment in the worst decade ever, George W. Bush became president after successfully stealing the election from a man who actually received the most votes.

Perhaps at age 15 I was too young to understand how terrible the decade would be. Maybe others sensed on the cold December day when Bush v. Gore was decided that shit was gonna get ugly. But I don't think anyone predicted how awful things would be in December, 2009.

I can think of a few good things that came out of the decade. iPods and iPhones. Me finishing school and never having to go back again. Rocky Anderson. Ben and Taylor breaking up. But none of those things make up for 9/11, two ugly and unjust wars, Hurricane Katrina, an economic collapse, Darfur, climate change, steroid scandals and print media going down the shitter along with the American car and music industries.

It would be nice to say that just as George W. Bush ushered us in to a decade of tumult and mistakes, Barack Obama can see us through a decade of recovery. But I have a lot less hope today then I did last November, and I fear that in ten more years I will have no choice but to write about another terrible decade.