Written by the Comment Section    Sunday, 17 January 2010 15:37   
It was acceptable in the noughties...
Comment


With the noughties coming to a close Comment takes a look at five things that dominated the decade...


1. GLOBAL WARMING

Is it just us or is it getting hotter? This was the decade that most of us finally came round to the idea that global warming wasn't just the premise for a new Michael Bay action film.  And having accepted that this is one disaster Will Smith can't save us from we all went a little bit green.
Formerly demonic supermarket chains guilted a nation into abandoning plastic bags for 'bags for life' while Easyjet brought one additional charge you could pay in good conscience, the chance to mysteriously offset your carbon footprint.  
No more sinking Green Peace boats; however reluctantly governments have been forced to adopt a greener image- even the 'nasty' Conservatives have replaced the less than cuddly torch with an oh so huggable squiggly tree.

2. TERRORISM

In this decade queues for airport security got a whole lot longer.  Many of us caught the spirit of the sixties in our first taste of anti-war protests.  The formidably named 'war on terror' became the unfortunate phrase of the  era and split opinion across the world.  
Almost a decade on, the fear of anthrax coming through your letterbox has subsided but the effects of the 'war on terror' are still being felt both at home and abroad.  
Terrorism forced many voters to re-evaluate the important balance between the rights of the individual against the all-encompasing power of the state.  For the first time people have questioned the treatment of suspects and, as the motivations for going to war in Iraq remain murky at best, calls for the state to be held to account are likely to echo into the next decade.

3. SOCIAL NETWORKING

Like it or loathe it, few of us will finish this decade without some form of online identity.  As teenagers, Myspace and Bebo became the ideal virtual host for all our angst though most of us have since graduated to the University of Facebook.  For the worst-addicted the advent of Twitter offered a chance to share their news, opinions and what they had for lunch with tweeters world wide. Twitter truly  came into prominence during the Iranian demonstrations of summer 2009 when it was the only method by which to send information , uncensored, out of the autocratic state.
Social networking was the most influential development in the online world of the last decade. The future will surely acknowledge its invention as a positive outcome of the noughties. As society becomes larger and larger, social networking gives us all a needed sense of community.

4. CREDIT CRUNCH

Towards the end of the decade you may have noticed your pockets getting lighter... a lot lighter.  As the effects of the credit crunch became widespread bankers regularly topped polls, usually dominated by lawyers and parking wardens, as the most unpopular profession.
Chief among these was Bernie Madoff who used a simple pyramid scheme to steal over $40bn.  He must surely be in the running for most unpopular man of the decade, and makes our Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin appear relatively tame.
The global banking bailout which followed and included Northern Rock in the UK and the nationalisation of Freddie Mac and Fanni Mae in America, was a symbolic return to the Keynesian Economics which was popular from the 40s to the 70s.  Capitalism was genuinely questioned and no longer was the free market seen as unimpeachable.

5.  BARACK OBAMA

This decade may have been a bit of a downer at times but by November 2008 things were looking up as just about everyone following the US election got a bit of a crush on Obama.  Borrowing a phrase from Bob the Builder, Barack Obama swept to victory with the rally cry 'yes we can' and brought hope to a nation scarred by racial inequality and to a world weary of Bush.
Despite being in office for under a year, he has followed through on his campaign pledge to be the first President in recent memory to genuinely attempt universal healthcare reform.  He has also reached out to the Islamic world as well as acknowledging that global warming must be tackled as an immediate priority.  Along the way superman has even managed to pick up a Nobel Peace Prize.  Not bad... not bad at all.

 

*Printed on December 1st 2009*

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