2009

The Year to Put Our Genius to Work

Santa Claus has come to town.

Perhaps he didn’t bring each and every one of us each and every thing our hearts desire.

But beneath many a Christmas tree, he left gifts mounting as high as the gross national product of small nations.

Santa has not let hard times stop him from keeping his promise to our children. He’s helped us be good Americans as well as good parents, keeping the economy humming.

For the quintessential 21st century American job is spending. You and I do that job as efficiently as the Greatest Generation fought and won World War II.

We lose some battles. We mourn some casualties. In Annapolis, Main Street Gallery closed its doors on Dec. 21. In Deale, we watched Good Deale Bluegrass pack up last weekend.

But the odds are with us to win the war.

That’s been one of the surprise lessons of 2008, which, as Bill Burton writes in these pages, shook our beliefs and upended our security. Pretty much since the turning point of that war, spending has been the cause to which we’ve committed our national will.

For me, this has been a thrilling lesson. Because it’s reminded me how very good we Americans are at any job we throw ourselves into.

It’s just possible that the shocks of 2008 have jolted us, you and me, into taking on some new causes. Taking them on with the same kind of energy we pour into spending. Taking them on like jobs on which our security depends. Which is the truth.

All the conditions are right.

The year’s turning, moving our collective psyche into an optimistic mode. Light is gaining on darkness, and 2009 has pushed 2008 into history.

Santa Claus has come to town. We’ve faced a bad time and come through it, most of us, with presents under the tree — and roofs over our heads.

We’ve elected a new president who rallied us to the audacity of hope.

And we’ve promised to do some really big spending to put our national economic house in order.

Even as I write these words and you read them, a new American future is being planned. Billions of dollars are going to be spent on a economic recovery and stimulus package for our homeland.

That means 2009 is the year to put our genius to work.

Why let the politicians have all the fun?

As the year unfolds, we’ll be writing about how we want them to spend our stimulus dollars.

Should construction projects have to be green? Should out-of-work poets and journalists write the script to make us all care? Should your favorite project get funded?

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Re-engaging our genius is the subject of this letter from your editor. It’s also the subject of this week’s feature story. I hope that story, 9 Ways to Reinvent Yourself Sustainably in 2009, will get you into your groove, so in a week or two you’ll be ready to think big. Trillions big.

         Sandra Olivetti Martin

      editor and publisher

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