It's a New Year!

"I woke up this morning feeling brand new, cuz the dreams I'd been
dreaming had finally come true..."

I woke up this morning with will.I.am's "It's a New Day" in my head.
It's a brand new year, and I am in Phoenix.

Phoenix, the mythical creature that dies in a blaze of
flames only to be reborn from its ashes; the symbolism is not lost on me. I've always believed in
creative destruction. The destructive phase is not the most pleasant
thing to go through; as many of us no doubt felt in 2008.

Over a breakfast of lox and bagel, the pundits on CNBC were ready to
declare 2009 a year of investment opportunities. And of course that's
true. Somebody always makes money, no matter how dire the situation.
McDonalds, for one, was one of the very few stocks that finished 2008
in the green. Sure, tough times lie ahead, but we Americans are always
on the lookout for new opportunities. If there's one thing we're
really good at, it's rebranding (just look at Madonna; doubt she'll be
answering to Madge anymore).

I rarely watch TV on a TV, and watching TV in America is quite a
surreal experience. There are so many drug ads and shopping ads for
knick knacks that make your life easier (my personal favourite at the
moment is Snuggie, a fleece blanket with sleeves that makes you look
like a monk). And everything, from choppers to Obama commemorative gold coins, is just US$19.95. For a limited time only, of course and plus shipping & handling. So call now and let's buy, buy, buy our way out of our woes.

I wander through Borders and am overwhelmed by all the self-help,
weight loss, brand-new-you, richer you, happier you books on the
shelves. If I didn't know any Americans, I would have thought that
this was a country full of fat, poor, sad, defeated people looking for
pain-free quick fixes. I find it ironic that Pfizer was peddling a
pill to help smokers quit smoking -- pop a pill to kick an addiction.

Yet, thousands of people worked extremely hard last year to ensure
their pick for the next leader of the United States would end up in
the White House. Only one man made it, and it was a brilliant example
of a country that still had the capacity to dream and accomplish what
previously had been thought to be impossible.

2009 may be a new year. And on 20 January, we may have a brand new
president in the White House. But in many ways, there will be nothing
new about this year. Our economic and foreign policy challenges may
seem unprecedented, but if we have faith in the process -- creative
destruction -- we will know that on the other side of pain is promise.
The promise of America has always been our capacity "to dream the impossible dream" (yes, now the tune of "The Impossible Dream" from the 70s Broadway musical Man of La Mancha is drumming through my head) and
then achieve it. We seem to thrive best in the face
of such situations.

This year, will we simply rebrand ourselves or will we take this
opportunity and the lessons learned from 2008 to reimagine and create
anew our future, like a phoenix rising from the ashes? Only time will
tell.

In the meantime, the talking heads on CNBC will continue to talk...