R.E.M.Cue R.E.M.

The flywheel that is the massive societal shift is starting to get some momentum. Ignited by the excesses of unbridled corporate greed, untenable bubbles in every market from dot-com to housing to energy, and tin ears on the right who became corrupt as the government ballooned and scandals abound, the pendulum of change toward progressivism is in full throttle.

In a matter of hours since Barack Obama took the “oaf” of office, the government is poised to take over huge portions of our national economy and society. Not only that, we are reaching further and further into each other’s business. We all have something to say to that executive who refurnishes his office, or the corporation who was taking delivery on a jet it ordered two years ago. We even have created a climate where the well-heeled on Rodeo Drive have to hide their five-figure purchases in plain white shopping bags.

We’re not thinking about all of the normal people it took to create that fine furniture or Gulfstream or Coach bag. We are building the “pain society” and whether you like it or not, we are all going to feel it together.

At the same time, through his unprecedented stimulus package, President Obama wants to give you a Bufferin for any pain you feel in this recession. Lose your job and want to keep your health care? The government will pay your COBRA premiums, or put you on Medicaid, no matter how wealthy you are. Your school starting to look rough? We’ve got $150 billion to spruce that right up.

It’s going to be painful and it’s going to be hard, but the government will take care of you. The ironic thing is that in the mood of the country, most people see anything wrong with that. We’re no longer encouraged to pull up from our bootstraps; our caretakers in Washington will take care of that. And our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be paying for it.

Just another indicator of this tectonic shift to this new and very scary progressive era that will probably last for another forty years. How long will we be able to sing “and I feel fine?”