The last 10 years.

Since this is the closest I come to keeping a journal or a diary, I think it's a good place to reflect on the last decade. If ten years ago someone had asked me to write that essay on where I saw myself in 10 years, I would have missed the boat just like everyone else. I'm married. I've got two kids. I've got a house and a mortgage to prove it. All pretty normal standard stuff, but I'm doubtful I could have predicted any of it for myself. I just didn't know any better. But personally, those are all good things, and I'm happy with where things are. I've grown as a person in so many ways.

On a more global level, when I think about what this decade meant, I think it was mostly about the actualization that more often than not the so called leaders and experts don't know what they are talking about. Yes, there has always been a certain amount of deceit in leadership. Often nothing more than thinly contructed pretexts for military involvement, but in these past 10 years, our President led us to an unncessary war on the flimsiest of evidence. Also the leaders of our macro economy demonstrated that they didn't really have a handle on things and we were plunged into the deepest recession in generations.

As a result of that and the propogation of pseudo information across the internet and cable tv, we have become the most overloaded on information people ever yet. We've had to work harder to try and discern the truth because everyone is so intent to pull the wool over our eyes. I hate to say that reason and truth have lost ground, but that's pretty much how I feel. All of a sudden there are truths rather than the singular truth in our discourse. Facts and opinions seem to be the same thing. And thanks to people like Rush, Ann Coulter and a fair share of left wing nut jobs, we've also gotten a lot snarkier.

I think a lot of people would say they are worse off now than they were at the beginning of the decade. Hopefully, the next one will be better.