CHASING DOWN THE MUSE: Dawning year of opportunity for change

The clock ticks down the remaining days of 2007 as we race toward a celebration of a new year. Everything once again seems possible, as if simply turning the pages of a calendar cleans and clears the slate.

We become new again; the world is changed.

Rather than looking back, I want to look forward. After the raucous end-of-the-year parties have dwindled to spent confetti and party favors, what fresh ideas will born with the dawn of the New Year?

We know one thing for certain “” the United States will elect a new President.

What I hear most often from both sides of the political equation is the hope and desire for a candidate that can heal the schism that has been built over the last eight years. I believe that in the heart of hearts, people are tired of the them-vs-us posturing, and what we all seek is a more united platform.

OK, honesty and ethics would also be refreshing.

The Democratic party jockeys two front-running primary candidates who test the sanctioned “white male electable” model. If the spitting and stabbing can be held to a low simmer, the Dems might produce a candidate whose life and reputation are not too sullied before November.

On the Republican side, the multitude of candidates throw punches, accusations, and vituperatives, and not one of the men has achieved any kind of ascendancy. What happens in the primaries is certain to be a surprise.

On the minds of the public “” the painfully wrenching issue of a war, which is yet another “not-war.” We remain mired in a tribal conflict that is older than our nation, with only a modicum of support within the country we unilaterally decided needed to be rescued. The number of suicide bomber attacks continues to increase, and our own soldiers and innocent civilians continue to pay for the incursion with their lives.

No one person has yet offered a solution that addresses the myriad complications of a withdrawal. I hope in the collection of bright minds that form the foundation of our nation, we can find a way to stop the bloodshed and return our soldiers to their homes and families.

The environment has also taken a tremendous toll under the current administration. National lands set aside for parks, refuges or wilderness areas have summarily been carved up, sold off, or opened to mining, forestry or development. Greed is the one word that comes to mind, and an old-boy system that rewards voting with favorable behind-closed-doors treatment. The public trust is the ultimate loser, and the generations that follow are left with mere fragments of hard-fought decisions to protect and preserve.

We are at a crossroads with our resource consumption. Maybe it is the ticking clock, not the countdown to another year, but to depletion of those elements upon which we have built our enterprise. What we need is a fail-safe solution that will ignite the venture spirit into the development of alternate strategies.

We’ve seen progress with bio-diesel, wind generated power and solar energy. But what is outside the box? Wave power has recently been much discussed. As yet, there is not one clear answer. But at least we are thinking “” and not a moment too soon.

Healthcare is another industry set to explode. What in 2008 could turn that tide? Insurance policies and premiums have risen above the affordability of most Americans.

Do we have to be sick and disease-ridden before we take an aggressive look for a solution?

Free enterprise is a fabulous model, but how rich do our energy corporations, insurance agencies and banks need to be? While there appears to be no limit on the percentage of their profits, there also appears to be no limits on their gouging of the public. My own huge personal gripe: Since when did it become OK for banks to charge 33% interest on debt? It seems that not too long ago, the word to describe that kind of term was usury.

It takes guts and fortitude to continue to rail against injustice. It is so much easier to sit on the sofa with the television clicker and dummy down the minds, which I firmly believe is the intention of those with great power.

A population that has stopped thinking for itself, stopped questioning the decisions that are made for them by their elected officials, has made itself blind to the events that surround them.

This new year offers us the hope of transformation, if we dare to embrace its concurrent challenges. We have 365 days of opportunity to make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others with each and every one of our actions.

Let us celebrate 2008 and reach farther than we have ever reached before.

CATHARINE COOPER is a writer, designer and photographer. She can be reached at [email protected]