Michael Stipe had it dead to rights: “It’s the end of the world as we know it…” but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. The end of capitalism as we know it, the end of the 1950s education as we know it, even the end of supreme American dominance, are not reasons to throw up our political hands in despair. No need to drink the hemlock yet folks.

I don’t have all the solutions (if I did, I’d be holed up in my secret para-government base running the world, not blogging), but it strikes me that these consecutive waves of failure present us with the opportunity to build floating houses instead of running around trying to plug the dike. This kind of epic failure gives us the chance to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

I’ve already suggested some ideas in my Emergent Socialism blog, but this time I want to hear from all of you. Instead of plugging holes in the great American sea wall, how can we embrace our failure and move forward? What new solutions can we provide for 21st century problems? Simply put, how do we encourage the superstructure of America to evolove?

If we can salvage just a little optimism, we can say with confidence: “Failure is not an option; it’s a necessity.”