Great Expectations

No, this is not an analysis of the relationships among Pip, Estella and Miss Havisham (although Mr. Wemmick's stressing the benefits of 'portable property' might proffer a small contribution to the current financial mess) but rather some thoughts on the recent American election.

Good on Barack Obama, and good on the American electorate for turning a number of corners, not the least of which is the election of an African-American to the Presidency. I have lived through Selma, Dr. King's address, the saga of Rosa Parks, Brown v. Board of Education and considering all that, thought it would still take decades for such an event to occur. And never mind the carping comment (made by several grumpy analysts ) that in the U.S. it always takes a black man to clean up the white man's messes. All of which brings me to my point

The mess left by the unholy combination of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- Bush, Cheney, Rove and Rumsfeld -- is truly gargantuan. It will not be solved speedily, and herein lies the problem. The expectations raised by the election of Obama verge on the fantastical. It as if he could wave a magic wand, and presto! the economy starts humming again, job creation soars, two wars end with resounding success, and those wee tussles in the Congo, Somalia and Darfur all get quickly resolved. (Note to Sarah -- Africa is a continent, not a country. I must have a little talk with that woman.) And as the good Barack begins to slog his way through all this, people's impatience is bound to rise; current society, aided and abetted by technology, is lousy at deferred gratification. The message that has to get through is that it took eight years of idiocy to get the U.S. where it is. It is going to take eight years to get back to where the country was.

One bright aspect, if I remember my T.S. Eliot, is as follows: "And the purpose of all our journeyings is to get back to the place where we started, and know it for the first time." So perhaps, just perhaps, that knowledge will come about. So let's all of us give it time.