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December 31, 2009
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your doom!
It's beginning to look as if the end is imminent. The end of the decade, that is. While I don't like the idea of a mandatory "recap" of important stories or events of the year (much less "the decade"), I think it's probably worth pointing out that I am sick and tired of being doomed. This damned decade of doom (which is being called the "Decade of Fear" by those who deem themselves in charge of such things) started out as a bunch of silly Y2K crap. I attended a Y2K New Years party and watched as the moment of doom came and went, then the fears fizzled into nothing. At the beginning of the decade, I was a frustrated libertarian, and while I knew McCain was no libertarian, I thought he'd be a better candidate than Bush. I had voted for Dole, and I had already gotten into a pattern of hold my nose voting, but I thought I'd have to hold it harder for Bush than McCain. I endured the endless, bitterly disputed election which dragged on through Christmas and New Years and finally had to be decided in the Supreme Court, and I couldn't help thinking that McCain would have won by a bigger margin and prevented at least some of the acrimony. But still, I longed for a more libertarian government. Instead, I witnessed one of libertarianism's worst nightmares come true: the implementation of Big Government conservatism (aka "National Greatness" conservatism). Ugh! Not long before the 9/11 attack, I happened to notice veiled women in my neighborhood (I lived near a Saudi madrassa, as regular readers know), and I worried about the incompatibility of fundamentalist Islam with a libertarian society. I put it out of my mind but a few days later I was listening to Howard Stern half asleep when suddenly he exclaimed, "This is World War Three!" and I knew from the tone of his voice that he wasn't joking. So I spent the entire day (and much of the next few days) glued to the hated TV, contemplating what looked very much like our doom. Doom doom doom. The doom dragged on for years, but at least the war offered a way to fight the doomsayers. Whether they took the form of those who decried Bushitler fascism or the ever-louder carping about how we were living in "End Times," the doomsayers certainly were in their heyday. I think people like doom. And I like to sneer at doom, because in my experience being doomed is a challenge, not a fate. It would be nice to think that the end of the decade of doom means the end of doom, but I am doubtful. We've been doomed for a long time. Our doom still looms. My goal should probably be to try to make doom more fun, but I'm wary of making doomed "resolutions." MORE: Thanks Sean Kinsell for the link! Sean notes that "there's plenty of time to return to pushing grimly back against nanny-state-ism in January." And it isn't even January yet! Enjoy the New Year everyone! posted by Eric on 12.31.09 at 11:20 AM
Comments
Yeah. The Dragnet Theme. Doom da Doom Doom. M. Simon · December 31, 2009 12:06 PM Well, unless there's a congressional New Year's Eve vote being rammed through that I'm blessedly unaware of, Big Government isn't going to finish wrecking civilization by tomorrow. :) Happy New Year, Eric. Sean Kinsell · December 31, 2009 12:19 PM One of my first memories of school is the story of "Chicken Little", that was over sixty years ago, now it seems that "Chicken Little" is in charge. Hugh · December 31, 2009 12:45 PM Where I live, even the local news gets into the act. Two-thirds of the stories seem to tell us about something we should become outraged about or terrified of. notaclue · December 31, 2009 01:28 PM Your right "big government conservatism" is the oxymoron that had to implode. lonetown · January 2, 2010 04:07 PM Post a comment
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One of my first memories of school is the story of "Chicken Little" and the sky is going to fall, one would think in the past 60 years we should have gotten past that.
It seems today that "Chicken Little" is in charge.