My goal for this blog is to blend genealogy and history - to write about family and the amazing lives each generation has lived. And this month, this family added another generation; Eamon, my son, was born. Let's talk a bit about the world he is entering.
Eamon was born, and will spend at least the first two years of his life, in New York City (born at Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side but will be living in Harlem). The Mayor is Michael Bloomberg, who is serving his third term - which is having some rough patches at the moment - and the Speaker of the City Council is Christine C. Quinn (Eamon's dad's boss). His Congressman is none other than the Harlem legend, Charles Rangel, who faced some ethics issues, but was re-elected in 2010. The governor is the newly-elected Andrew Cuomo.
At the national level, Barack Obama is president and since the Republican congressional victories in 2010, he has moved to the center and made some compromises. The big issue for discussion now (after health care legislation and financial reform were passed during Obama's first two years) is on long term budget deficits.
Internationally, the US bombed to protect citizens in Libya, is slowly leaving Iraq, and is starting to debate how much longer to stay in Afghanistan. The world is still reeling from a significant recession caused by excessive consumer debt and a housing bubble (in both Europe and the US). Israel and Palestine are no closer to a peace deal. But north Africa and the middle east are witnessing pro-democracy demonstrations.
The cover of the NY Times on Eamon's birthday covers the downfall of the president of the Ivory Coast and budget negotiations between Congress and the President. The National Geographic for his birth month talks about the Inca, a volcano in the Congo, ocean acidification, the High Line park in NYC, and Crimea.
The question is how much of this will be meaningful 20 years from now when (if) Eamon reads back on it. Will the democracy demonstrations have led to lasting change? Will history record a deal on long term budget deficits?
Politics aside, Eamon is also entering into a time of rapid - exponential even - improvements in technology. We now have smart phones replacing cell phones; we have the iPad, the Nook and the Kindle. Digital cameras get smaller and add new features (Eamon's mom's SLR camera is already obsolete) and personal computers get faster.
We also talk a bit about occupations on this blog. And as far as I can tell, his options are unlimited. While many generations back, all we see is agriculture, more recently there is good variety. His grandparents occupations include: a doctor, lawyer / judge, engineer, and librarian. His aunts and uncles occupations include lawyers or technology. And his parents are a teacher and a government policy analyst.
This is an exciting time, and we look forward most to just getting to know him, but also to seeing how he interacts in this world.
