It saddens me that President Obama this morning made as the litmus test for the success or failure of his administration the 'fixing' of the economy. I hope he doesn't mean by that returning the economy to the levels of affluence and luxury of the last 20 years. If he does mean that, then he is doomed to failure, because he will not be able to restore this bubble economy back to where it was. That is an impossibility.
What he can do is prepare the ground for a new kind of economy that will function on clean energy, freeing us from energy dependence and addiction. But it is going to take decades to crawl out of the debt hole we have dug, and he will only begin the process. In the meantime, many people are going to have a lifestyle much lower than the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, there is so much more he can do on the international front that will not depend on the domestic political or economic situation, and I think that will be ever bit as important for our life together and the future for our descendents. Working together with the rest of world to create greater stability and peace in any variety of ways. And if that's all he does, he will have been a success in my eyes.
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