Is a lack of higher consciousness .... and since such consciousness requires hard work by an individual and can never be a mass phenomena, we are doomed as a species.

It is true that the quality of our life is determined not by what we possess, but what we have allowed to possess our hearts ..... and that is now seen as selfishness, greed and fear.

As far as the plutocracy is concerned, there is only one solution ...... the people must take to the streets and overthrow the govt if necessary .... heads must roll ....... revolution is necessary and natural.

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"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."

Plutarch

...reminded me of a mix between Jack Kerouac and John Steinback, both men who knew the "bum" in their souls was the original and most natural state of a person.A state that has integrity. Perhaps this is a cultural reaction to the times, as hard times seem to bring out the most innovative and creative in people.

Perhaps this is the nature of the change Obama promised, one where real problems are dealt with by using real soloutions

rather than the fantasy land of some greed infused marketeer whose only motive is profit or the violent extremism of opportunists whose only notion is an empty nihilism. Simply put, humanity can only gain by rediscovering it's humanness, something we have left behind in this most materialistic and mechanised of ages. Perhaps this is the new beginning where the "global village" actually becomes a village rather than just an open mall dictated to by the market and consuming all in it's path. Please see http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20153.htm

I agree that our possibilities are limited by what we can see, believe, and get behind...or perhaps, what the first writer called consciousness. However, I don't think it is necessarily bleak, even if it is difficult.

The last eight years showed the power of leadership to magnify and align events with its own level of political, economic and moral awareness. It's too bad that it was a prime example of what happens when leadership embraces and forwards the agenda of the most base consciousness, but it still provides a good example of the principle.

While playing to the the lowest common denominator took us on an easy (downhill) path, a large percentage of us now recognizes where our economic hangover came from...that wild war spending, reckless tax cutting and mindless deregulation bender we went on for two presidential terms.

Now we have a leader who calls to our higher consciousness. Can this succeed -- once our minds clear from the smoke and mirrors of that dark musty dive of a saloon we just came out of?

I think Obama realizes he needs the backing of like minds, and that he's not going to find them on the other side of the aisle. But perhaps he can start by drawing in support from the more progressive elements of the corporate board rooms. As one anecdotal example, it's intriguing to hear that Rupert Murdoch is among his admirers. That's a sign of spring, of sorts.

The good news is that progressive change doesn't take 100% agreement. You can see in marketing that when 5% (the so-called market leaders) begin to buy a new product, it can foreshadow a trend that draws in the successively larger market segments, essentially the 'market followers.'

If we can mobilize that small percentage of citizen-consumer leaders in the population, and demonstrate that Obama has support, vocal and active support, that could help get a higher agenda out of the gate. That support has to be continued with citizen participation, individual action, and sustained commitment to those new directions too.

Energy conservation and solar energy are good examples of 'technologies' that can provide a pragmatic bedrock change that ushers in uplifting thinking along with it. Conservation can make big improvements in business and government bottom lines. Solar is showing that it can attract a market, and that is beginning to bring production costs down to a point near parity with more traditional forms of energy production. Both could eventually begin the shift of national attention away from military adventurism in the Middle East -- and the ugly domestic fear-based politics that have come with it.

I'd wish us all luck, but in the end it really depends more on us putting our minds, feet and hands in motion.

David I agree with your analogy that we have a steep climb ahead with dark days on this dangerous & uncharted road that will hopefully some day lead to our recovery; however my biggest concern is carrying with us along this journey a Republican Party which has been largely responsible for this CATASTROPHE that we now find our self in & I fear that the Limbaugh "Corporatist" Republican Party has shown clearly that it has suicidal tendencies. We have a enemy "within" our country! Can we successfully complete this "odyssey" with an opposition party that can only repeat the mantras of TAX CUTS for the corporations & the "very" wealthy, more deregulation, more preemptive & endless wars, anti-science rhetoric & corporate shills such as Limbaugh "hoping" for our President's & thus our FAILURE.?????

This climb is difficult enough with out the suicidal jihad of the Limbaugh "Corporatist" Republican Party!

As you say we are "past the point of no return". When will enough be enough from these insane Republican insurgents?????

we would have more money to fix all the problems you mentioned.

The damage to US as a whole runs very deep.

80 years of corruption,

changes in medicare that favors ONLY the rich and expects the poor to die,

the crumbling infrastructure where many villages and even towns do not have telephone connections even though AT&T receives federal subsidies to provide them,

the myth of corporate person-hood which enables criminals to escape jail or even hanging by hiding behind the so-called veil of corporate,

the criminal justice system which enables corporates to run jails and buy up senators who can pass bills providing 20 yrs jail for copyright violation by a 13 yr old while providing 3 years jail for a murderer,

the public transport system which was systematically undone by the Big Three which now receive our money,

the currency which was undermined from within by JP Morgan & Co. with their infamous 1913 Federal Reserve Act, so that the government depends entirely on taxation to meet its borrowing from Fed with no reserves,

the education system which is a joke since it is sued to prevent children from being educated on Maths and Sciences and instead places emphasis on bone-breaking sports producing bone-headed idiots like A-Rod, while making college unaffordable to all but trust-fund beneficiaries,

the armed forces which are used as mercenaries by Banana corporations and oil producers to unseat elected and unelected regimes...

I could go on, but am too depressed.

Taking down 80 years of institutionalized corruption will take more than 8 years.

Obama can start the process, and make sure its done that way.

Oh he cannot expect the Republicans to support him, nor Pelosi.