The 1990s could be seen as the calm before the storm of the 2000s.

In the 1990s there were millions looking forward to the new millenia, and it was a time of internal focus in the United States as opposed to recent decades. It’s odd to think about how we look back a Bill Clinton’s legacy and there is little to be said except in regards to his affair with Monica Lewinsky. The economy may not have been doing amazing but it wasn’t bad. There had been innovations in computer science and now more people than ever had access to the World Wide Web, for better or worse. There was an air of unspoken, light optimism.

The 2000s changed everything. On September 11, 2001 a group of around 20 Islamic extremists boarded commercial planes with the intent to hijack. It was on that morning that they flew those aircraft into the twin towers of the World Trade Center , the Pentagon, and due to the bravery of the passengers of the fourth plane, into a field outside Shanksville, PA. The sense of optimism and security of the 90s was shattered in an instant, and the nation for a while lived in fear and wanted revenge on those responsible. In retrospect invading Iraq and Afghanistan ended up being mistakes, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and there were plenty of freedom minded people who came out of those nations who exist today who might not have, but in all we just generated larger issues by making weak and dependent allies, not to mention countless insurgent groups.

In regards to economics it got bad in 2008 when the recession hit, as it is something we are still dealing with its aftereffects to this day. People lost a lot of money and jobs, and its gotten pretty bad. I wish we could develop mass scale, mandatory, and paid job training programs for US citizens nationwide, but there would be undoubtedly pushback. And even if we had a skilled labor force, its not like companies would bother to hire us, as their CEOs and shareholders want to rake in all the cash and leave us with nothing but the bare minimum to buy their endless stream of poor-exploited products.

I was born in the 90s and grew up in the 2000s, and while I didn’t live in fear of these thing, I saw the toll they took on the adults in my life, and saw it reflected in the media I consumed. It seemed like the 2000s was dedicated to the theme of warfare, in movies, in TV shows, in the news, and especially in video games. I remember Call of Duty and Halo being all the rage, how me and my best friend John would pretend to be World War II soldiers, how I would watch Star Wars the Clone Wars every Friday night on Cartoon Network, and how there were always ads on TV for movies about soldiers in a desert environment when my parents were watching their programs. I worry things may return to this norm given current global affairs, but I will do my best to ensure my nephew gets a taste of peace in his life too.

There is very little hope of things getting better in time to save this nation, but there is still a chance. Hope, cooperation, hard work and the resources to work with; that’s all we need. In the words of former President Barack Obama, “Yes We Can!”