Changes in Latitude

For a calendar with small things you can do every day to celebrate a more peaceful world, visit www.PeaceProject.com

On the dawn of 2010, we find a vastly different world then we left last New Year’s Eve.

The world is still upside down, as Roger Cohen observed last year, “the developed world now depends on the developing world, rather than the other way around”.

This blog noted last December how Brazil & Mexico are emerging as leaders on global issues such as climate change and economic growth.  One year ago, President Bush was busy subverting California’s restrictions on auto pollution by blocking the law from taking effect.  We were in a “Great Recession”.

This New Year’s Eve, the world is more united toward caring for Mother Earth.  President Obama ordered the EPA to allow states such as California to limit their pollution beyond federal regulations.   He negotiated an important compromise in Copenhagen between China and other major world economies to take action against dangerous emissions.

Economically, this year ends with several Latin American nations posting GDP gains while N. American and European economies contracted.  However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its downward spiral early in the year and has been climbing ever since.  The recession is officially over.  We end 2009 with a glimmer of hope and pride for 2010.

Congress is poised to pass the first meaningful health care reform in decades, banning insurance discrimination on the basis of medical history, helping tens of millions of families establish and maintain coverage.  In this regard, the USA is joining civilized nations late, and with a half-step, but it’s a move in a compassionate direction.  Meanwhile, quality health care in much of the developing world remains so affordable that health insurance is simply unnecessary.  Last New Year’s Eve my daughter had stitches in a Washington ER for over $1000; her father recently had the same procedure for a surprisingly similar wound in Panama for $34.  (She has a scar, her father does not.)

One of this year’s two big stories was Sonia Sotomayor, confirmed as first Hispanic justice on Supreme Court; and, Barack Obama, elected the first African American President of the USA.

President Obama recently began relaxing restrictions on travel to Cuba; his administration expedited visa requests for muscians performing in a concert promoting freedom there.  Cuban musician Carlos Varela sang for Congress, saying in DC, “Music is not going to move governments, but it might move people. And people can move governments.”

What do we hope for 2010?  Treehugger.com hopes Ford introduces an F75 Pickup, with half the horsepower of an F150, “because you really don’t need all that power in the suburbs”.  For my part, I hope we all take more time for one another in the New Year, online and off.  Please share your wishes for  2010 by commenting below, and may the New Year bring peace and sustainable prosperity for you all.

The following excerpts are from Nadia Martinez, a native of Panama and an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Ms. Martinez recently became a U.S. citizen and wrote about “Respecting Our Neighbors to the South” in Yes! Magazine, Summer 2008.