I've been lurking at Daily Kos since 2008 and haven't had the desire to post until recently... It's about time to open up and connect with some good souls and engage in inspiring conversations that can lead to positive action.
2008 was a pivotal time for many people in the US and myself. Another tech bubble, the mortgage crisis and the economy crashed! Eight years of living in a bizarro world, 9/11 opened the way to the TSA, NSA, and BofA type organizations taking over...
The election and slate of candidates gave me a palpable sense of a new course change and improvements to life in the US. I was 32, jobless, even with years of experience and a college degree in IT. Was getting turned down constantly and getting depressed. But then the charisma of candidate Barack Obama swept me up and I started volunteering in various ways for the campaign for change.
I didn't intend to volunteer a year of my life, but that was what happened. The unexpected loss in New Hampshire was my call to action, and after that I was on MyBO daily and using its calling action center to call primary voters in South Carolina and many other states on behalf of the campaign right from my house.
I logged about a 1000 calls in the primary and talked with many nice people across the country that I otherwise would not have been able to. A local election office opened up and I got to volunteer with in person with voter registration drives going door to door and person to person at farmers market, transit centers, malls--where ever I could find people to register.
When candidate Barack Obama won I was elated as anyone else, and to this day I share in the pride that my generation helped to elect President Barack Obama.
Then came the reality of governing...I believe that my president has played the best hand he was dealt with. It is a mistake to be down on Obama when the problem is systemic and with such inertial forces at play that is hard to counter and change course.
With an economy in tatters and stacked political system, it's my belief that real change has to come from the grassroots, and it's going to be a long endeavor.
There could be a saying: Plant a persimmon tree if you want to eat its fruit freely. In other words: structural problems require structural solutions.
I've since started a business and experimenting with the goal of creating a hybrid business-community model that can be easily copied and help build economic and socially sustainable two mile zone communities. Details later...
I'd like to hear from you... What did you do in 2008 and what are you doing since? How do you think we can turn this big ship around? Is it possible to create economic and socially sustainable two-mile zone communities, what does that mean anyway to you?
Until next time, live intentionally / intensionally and thrive.
-Yu Te
9:54 PM PT: Want to thank everyone who commented, tipped and recced. :) Sorry I didn't respond all day. It will probably be the norm for me to check the diary and answer comments at night.
9:59 PM PT: also much thanks for the warm welcomes and for taking the poll.