A New President

Whether you know it or not, whether you accept it or not, a new president will bring change to your personal life. The questions surrounding this are questions of degree only. Leadership creates environments. History has us at a strange juncture due to the downturn of not just the world economy, but human culture itself. This means that the environment created by a new president and all those who fall in under him will be that much more immediate. A few of the things I think you will notice changes in:

1) What is on your televisions and computers. Everything media, from situation-comedies to blogs will be different. In the case of this election, what amounts to drama will shift from stories about individuals to stories about groups and communities at a higher rate than we're already experiencing. There will be less about conflicts between people and more about conflicts between people and climate, poverty, disease, and the like. In other words, the human story itself will change in narrative content from Cain vs. Abel stories to Noah vs. the flood stories.

2) What you find on the shelves of your stores. The buying habits of America flow from the leadership habits in Washington. If this recession is teaching us anything, it is that government and business are really one and the same. It doesn't matter anymore if one philosophically objects to this. Conservatism is dead at the hands of those elected as conservatives. Every purchase is a vote and every vote has a price tag and is for a product. The green movement will show up in our homes and on our tables like never before. People will forego items that promise luxury for items that promise survival and - the new big word - sustainability.

3) What is preached from all pulpits of all monotheistic religions. The messages of faith will turn from self-actualization to community authenticity. Christians, I think, will especially notice the trend away from personal development spirituality toward community involvement spirituality. In fact, I wonder if some of our giant personal development ministries will have to close or retool. I think difficult times will do two things to "name-it-and-claim-it" preaching and theology: 1) make it more offensive to more people and 2) make it more audacious for those who stick with it. I've seen both first hand in Africa.

I'm not sure how good or bad such changes are. Many of them may be better in hindsight a century from now than they are to live through in the next years. I'm not certain about how my thoughts here will match up with the actual future, but I am certain that change - so promised in this election cycle - is, in fact, exactly what we're going to get with a new president.