December is the time of the year when people put together their top ten lists and start thinking about New Year resolutions. Last week I included the standard Top 10 list for music, which is a bit out of the norm for Barstool Politics. So I present to you the Top Five Things I’d Like to See in 2009:

1. The economy turns around: This is a no-brainer though one likely to miss the lists of many. Some young folks think that they’re not affected by the state of the economy and many others think that the coverage of Wall Street collapsing is little more than the mainstream media needing something to hype in the post-election season, and an oppportunity for robber-barons to raid the public purse one last time before Bush leaves office. Both are interesting thoughts, but talk to anyone who has lost a job, a retiree who has had to go back to work, or a small business owner who’s had to cut back in any number of ways – you’ll see that it is a very real situation. If that’s not enough, look at the headlines in foreign newspapers claiming that the world is witnessing the collapse of the American system. Perception is reality when it comes to many things, and perception can BECOME reality when it comes to others. 
 
Those doom-and-gloomers out there need to realize that bad news is not good. Criticism and forecasting is a privilege for those who either feel they have no skin in the game, or are completely unaccountable and without responsibility of any kind. We all need to be fighting to make things better. I don’t like Bush either, but I don’t want to wait for Obama for things to start turning around. 
 
2. People learn from the economic scare and start living within their means: The banks are in trouble partially because of what’s called fractional banking. For every dollar they had on deposit, banks were legally permitted to lend out up to ten times that amount. In recent years, that number grew to 30 and even 40 times. At the same time, the average American household has over $10,000 in credit card debt and, in recent years, the national savings rate for households has been less than zero – meaning they were spending more than they were making and were accumulating debt instead of savings. You can’t criticize the banks on principle when we act just as irresponsibly in our personal lives. Save for the future, and don’t put so much stock in all the latest gizmos and keeping pace with the Joneses. 
 
3. Obama gets really serious about green technology: Yes, the priority right now has to be the economy, and I am glad that Obama has called for a national green initiative to create jobs and start the next chapter of the American story. But the fact is that we’re way behind. Back in 2004, Spain announced that all newly constructed and renovated buildings were be installed with solar energy systems. How far are we from that kind of initiative? Given our political nature, very far. But a way to that end needs to be developed. It makes sense in so many ways, and I hope that the Obama administration is willing to really give something to the country by making this a cornerstone of his work in the White House. 
 
4. Health care: This issue has come up a bit more with the discussion of the auto maker bailout. You can’t talk about “making America competitive” with our global partners without acknowledging that in most of these countries health care costs are covered through the tax systems, not employers. The answer given by conservatives has been to make health care more of a commodity – what they call “consumer driven health care,” where health care is sold as a product and consumers get tax credits to buy their own insurance. But good insurance is too expensive for people to afford, and health care is not a commodity. Who wants to go shopping for a “cheap” surgeon? Health care is not the same as a DVD player. And going to the doctor less is not going to help. In fact, people need to go to the doctor more, so they can nip small health problems before they become big, expensive ones. 
 
For progressives, the answer ranges from expanding Medicaid and other programs to a full on single-payer system. Though there are merits to both, they ignore the American fabric. America does not nationalize on request and, in my opinion, you will only see a single payer system if there is a total collapse of the economy. 
 
Regardless, the arguments around the issues need to be discussed openly and honestly so we can come to a common sense approach that is sustainable and yet fits into the American tradition. 
 
5. The American image does indeed change for the better: Like many of you, I was profoundly moved on Election Day. Not only was it a repudiation of the Bush policies, but it said a lot about American society. American critics around the world – including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela – said that the American people would never elect a Black man to the highest office in the land. Critics and skeptics here at home thought that – just 7 years after September 11th – we didn’t have the ability to elect a man named Barack Hussein Obama. But we did. LIke his politics or not, the majority of American voters elected him president by a margin of nearly seven points for all the world to see. On that day, I felt an enormous sense of pride in a way that I had never felt before. For the last eight years, many Americans were trying to tell the world, “No, we’re not all like Bush!” When Bush won re-election in 2004, many in the world took that as a sign that the America they thought they knew was a myth, or that it was long gone. November ‘08 set the record straight. Though things are far from perfect here and we still have an upward climb on a number of fronts, we continue to set certain standards that we all need to acknowledge and be proud of. To see America show the world that racism and ethnocentrism does not have the final say is a great thing to witness, and I hope that the fruits of that phenomenon are felt in 2009.

The following is an edit of a piece I wrote a few years back. I was looking through some old rants the other day and, given the economic situation we’re experiencing, it seemed appropriate. It is also a Christmas piece, so it’s timely. I wrote the original version of this for the old Nora band journal on the Trustkill Records site.

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So it’s Christmas time again, and everybody is running around like maniacs trying to find the perfect gifts for those people most close to them. Parents, who work entirely too much and make no time for their kids, try to make up for the lack of affection they’ve giving their kids by making sure that they’ll have the latest Playstation unit or iPod that will distract them from future acts of neglect. Political morons pretend they are offended by retail stores that wish their patrons “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” while raising no issue with the fact that the holiday intended to honor and praise Jesus Christ has been replaced by commercialism, consumerism, and (perhaps worst of all) fairy-tale characters like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The average family, already holding down $10k in credit card debt, will rack up some more, because the norm in our society is to “live with”  - no matter what the circumstances.

This weekend, as I was raking up leaves with my wife, my mind wandered quite a bit. Most people I know who own their houses hire people to do their yard work for them. And that’s fine. But it reminded me of how much things have changed over the decades. The so-called “greatest generation” – the WWII generation – “lived without”. Like many generations before them, they didn’t have a choice but to do things themselves. For Christmas, if they were lucky, they got an orange, and were really happy to have gotten one. When Pearl Harbor was attacked and Germany declared war on the US, they heard the call for war and enlisted. The economy changed to suit the needs of the war. Fuel was rationed. Factories shifted production. Women were welcomed into the workforce to do the jobs previously only done by men. People were told that they were going to have to do without, and they did because they had those values already branded into them.

Now those who made up greatest generation sit in nursing homes, living out their last days, not understanding the world that we’re living in. It is a world with no notion of sacrifice. And there is no notion of sacrifice because we have learned to put our stock in shallow materialism and instant gratification rather than ourselves. President Bush doesn’t ask us to sacrifice anything for the war effort. And he doesn’t ask us in part because he knows (or rather, his administration knows) that we won’t sacrifice anything substantial – because to sacrifice our lifestyle is now considered to be “un-American”. We’re at war in a part of the world where most of the oil is produced and it could become scarce? Don’t bother cutting back. As Dick Cheney said, “Conservation is an antiquated concept.” Just buy another SUV and tell the world to go to hell. You ain’t sacrificing jack. Raise taxes to pay for the war? Why not just borrow $2 billion a week instead? Just like your credit card, it provides for today and leaves the burden for another day. Out of sight, out of mind.

This is the role model for our youth and a representation of our otherwise impressive culture.  

But there are some alarms likely to get our attention down the road. The population of our country is aging, and those programs like Medicare and Social Security, which we’ve all been paying into since we started working, are going to be strained by the larger senior populations of the future. In other words, when we (those of us living for the moment now) are actually going to need some assistance to live out the rest of our days, we will be forced to pay for our past. Japan, which has loaned us more money than any other country, is also expecting a baby-boomer generation to retire. And they will need the money they loaned us to help them pay for their retirement. What do you expect will happen at that point? And how well do you the think the “me generation” – which refuses to take responsibility for anything in their lives – will cope when they have no choice but to learn to live without?

If you’re interested in doing something meaningful this Christmas, do something for yourself. Make yourself a promise to do more for yourself and your family this year. Don’t go into debt. Cut up your credit cards. Tell your kids that they’re going to have a wait a few months until the latest freaking Playstation drops a few hundred bucks before they can have it. And make a conscious effort to live in the real world. Leave your iPod at home once in a while and shake off the numbness. Take out your earbuds and talk to that lady that sits across from you on the train every day. Give yourself a soul for Christmas.

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On a lighter note, as per Ronen’s request, here is my Top 10 list for this year. I think only one of these records actually came out in 2008, but here’s what made life a bit more enjoyable for me this year.

(In no order)

1. David Holmes Ocean’s Twelve Soundtrack

2. Terror One With the Underdogs

3. Blood Has Been Shed Spirals

4. Eight Dayz (tracks from Santa Cruz Wheels of Fire skate video)

5. GZA Liquid Swords

6. Suicidal Tendencies (old stuff)

7. Dr. Dooom Dr. Doom 2

8. Chain of Strength The One Thing That Still Holds True

9. Screaming Lord Salba and the Blue Flames (Wheels of Fire track)

10. Lionel (talk radio podcast)

I’m thinking about becoming a congressman. Congressmen don’t get paid that much, but there is a certain amount of power that comes along with being one. Also, I think it’s awesome to have a chance to be called Congressman Coyle. I’ve always been interested in politics because it’s a dirty game; I like dirty games and I’m good at playing them. But ultimately, I want to help my community and focus on the things that affect me and people like me.

Imagine if I did become a congressman in 10 years. There are a couple of things I’d have to do. First things first – I’d have to write a memoir to tell everyone all the things I’ve done. I’d have to let people know that the things I’ve experienced were good and bad, but have shaped my world view. My memoir is my platform. The main problem with my memoir is I’ve done so many drugs I can’t remember a lot of things that have happened to me!

As a congressman, I’d first see about getting medical marijuana into the hands of musicians so they can create and relax. Second, I’d try to get a budget for colleges to fund concerts like they do over in England. It works very well for them and could do well for us as well. Third, I’d try and get a tax break for musicians who are marginalized by internet downloading. So, vote for me, Dallas Coyle for Congress!