Dear Mr. Obama

The indie news is full of chatter about our president-elect's unprecedented inclusion of the public in brainstorming public policy. Mr. Obama is as close to a genius as we've had in the White House. He recognizes the importance of using the more human side of current communications technology to get a reading on how the country is doing. This implies many good things. 1) we are all interconnected 2) change cannot occur unless you can convince the average citizen to buy into it (spiritually and financially) 3) might as well use the tech we've developed for forming community consensus to the good rather than the instrument of fear it's been the past 8 years.

As I toddle around this city, I never cease to be dazzled by the memories of old Austin subdurally while high-rises are dominating the skyline. Since the last time I posted on the phenomenal growth here, I've learned a few things. Texas added 200+K jobs in the last few years. It feels eerie, because I'm hearing of large groups of people being laid off in TX. They gutted the UT HS Center in Galveston, cutting loose thousands of medical faculty and practitioners. Various cost-recovery groups on campus are paring staff.

What keeps me on an arguable even keel is focusing on the locations in Austin that were a product of the New Deal. The beautiful, functional, efficient buildings and public works that pulled Austin out of the Great Depression and all over the country. These works are still working, folks. That's a pretty hefty testament to what we Americans are capable of.

So once again, I allow myself a few moments of unbridled, unadulterated hope. That this man who will be our president HAS learned from the past. Is smart enough to use his pooh-poohed "community engagement" skills to educate and illuminate a viable path through the current daggy landscape. I want to help. And if there's any way I can get the word farther upline, I'd love to have a hand in forming the new America.

Now, to figure out what that might look like. Most certainly end-of-life care and the aging population as part of health care, especially now that we know he will bring all the internet capabilities to bear. This also contains the seed for more cross-generational brainstorming and problem solving, which is crucial to all of us.

Mostly a more humane awareness of community and fractals thereof. Yes, after such a long absence of any idea where we're going other than to you know where in a you know what, it's almost scary to feel hope creeping in, almost as if I acknowledge it, it will get yanked out from under my feet. I refuse to live that way any more. No bullying allowed!