The Resilient Decade

Posted: December 31, 2009, 4:07 pm

Decades in our history are tagged with names to make them easier to remember. The 60s was the decade of the Now Generation and Flower Power. The 70s was the Me decade. The 80s was the Yuppie decade. The 90s was the Get Yours While You Can decade. What will we call the 2000s?

I think it should be called the Resilient Decade. We had several major crises during the decade that rocked the country to the core, but each time we rebounded. First, there was the election results of 2000. We introduced new terms into our common vocabulary like hanging chad and butterfly ballots. We tested our Constitution by deciding the election based on the Electoral College and, in the end, we proved our democracy works. We had a smooth transition of power. If this had been another country, there may have been riots and fighting in the streets, but we had none of that.

Next, there was 9/11. It was the first major attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. In fact, it was the Pearl Harbor for an entire generation. We were stunned. The security we felt for generations was shaken to the core. Yet, we picked up and carried on. We increased security, became less naive and more vigilant, and we came through the crisis well.

Finally, there was the 2008 financial crisis. Banks collapsed and the government stepped in to prop up the economic system. We created the largest stimulus package in world history to save businesses and, hopefully, some jobs. By the end of 2009, however, the stock market had rebounded off the March 2009 lows and finished near the highest levels of the entire year. And, what some people forget is the stock market was higher and the interest rates lower than they were on January 1, 2000. So it appears we are on the road to recovery.

Three times this decade our country was rocked to its core. And three times we have rebounded. We have an amazingly resilient country. We are an amazing resilient people.

Am I wrong?