Brian Greenspun reflects on why this is such a good time to realize how good we have it and just how good the future can be

Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.

Life is about perspective.

Since tomorrow represents what many people consider a milestone of middle age - at least I do since I am most directly affected - I thought it appropriate to look back for a moment and forward for a few more to consider what is or should be important.

One of the benefits - and there aren't all that many as best I can tell - of reaching what used to be a big birthday, is the ability to look back, after gaining a lifetime of valuable experience, and putting it all in perspective. I think that is a worthy exercise, especially since life has been good enough to make me a grandfather, which means whatever responsibility I have felt over the years has just been extended for a few more decades!

So, as we approach this holiday season and all the joy and goodwill it is meant to engender among the people of this world, our nation and our own community, it should not be lost on any of us that we are in quite a mess.

If you wander back in time to World War II or even the first world war, I am certain that the American people were wondering what would become of the world should the bad guys prevail. I also believe that such thoughts were fleeting because the eternal optimism of Americans led them to only one conclusion: that good would triumph and all would be well. Relatively speaking, that's what happened.

Things are different today. Whereas before there was never a question that the United States would be spared the bloodshed and violence of war - because the enemy not only wouldn't but also couldn't attack us where we live - we no longer enjoy that certainty. In fact, we have learned the hard way that the exact opposite is true.

That means we need inspired and enlightened leadership, people willing to take the political risks that unpopular decisions bring. We also need leaders capable of making intelligent decisions and taking actions based on an understanding that the 20th century belonged to the United States. This one we have to share with others.

If you look forward, it is obvious to me that what we have known and what we have done for more than a century may not be what we will do in the years ahead. Take automobile manufacturing, for example. Rather than try to protect what we have - something other countries with cheaper labor may be better able to do - why aren't we trying to create the partnerships of high-tech innovation and design coupled with low-cost manufacturing that will assure us our economic base and manufacturing place in the coming decades? To get there we need leadership willing to explain to the people how life must change.

If you continue looking forward, it is apparent to me that politics is changing once again. And for the good, in my opinion. The stranglehold that the Republican Party allowed conservative religious groups to have over its future seems to have been broken just a bit. That means real conservative thought - the kind that protects the Constitution, not demeans it - will rise once more as a force that binds our country, not divides us.

As for the Democrats, they have been given an opportunity to not only sit at the table but now must also be reckoned with by the White House. They have a chance to show leadership and prove to the American people why they can again be trusted to do what is right for most of America and not just the favored few.

As we get closer to home, what I see in Las Vegas is the continued maturation of a very young town into the kind of city that people from around the world not only want to live in but also want to make better. Again, that requires leadership that tells people the truth.

And that truth is simple: If we want to have roads that get us somewhere, not nowhere; if we want tourists who can drive from Southern California in a time that resembles car speeds, not Conestogas; if we want quality of life to trump quantity; if we want people to envy our lifestyle rather than deride it; and if we want air we can breathe, water we can drink and a family-friendly environment for those who call this home, then we need to spend the money and exert the will.

There are plenty of ways to learn from the fiscal and growth mistakes of others, so we can be smarter about what and how we do it. I believe that most of the people who live here want something better for themselves and their families and are more than willing to pay the price. We just need the kind of leadership that is willing to get out front and not hide behind "no" as the easy answer.

I have been thinking about these things because that is what I do. It is also what I have been doing a lot more of lately, now that I see what can be accomplished when people work together and what failures can result when people turn inward, act parochially and let selfishness overcome our better, more selfless selves.

Call me mushy, call me soft, call me a sucker for the season. I prefer to think that I have learned a little something over all these many years - so many years that I wonder where the time has gone. But the kind of years during which I have learned enough to better use the time that is left.

Happy Holidays to all people of goodwill and good intentions.