Barack Obama, History and Hope

[Theaetetus]

A dawn of a new era has approached us in the United States with the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America. Our grandparents never could have envisioned an African American breaking down the race barriers to rise to the highest ranking position in the land, but now find themselves witnessing what they certainly thought was impossible only a few generations ago. But now the American people have joined together to elect the first non-rich white guy President who also happens to be the most qualified for the post. Dr. Martin Luther King junior your dream has been realized, but the work is far from over, for it has just begun. Now it is up to the American people to become the change that hope inspired within the nation.

This historic election is an example of what happens when a nation of people are inspired by the unifying powers of hope. Barack Obama overcame the odds and not only toppled the mighty Hillary Clinton, and then took down the man that couldn't lose no matter how he tried—John McCain—all through the idea that hope leadership can inspire a nation to visualize and manifest a new direction for humanity. The world has never been smaller, and the chances of totally catastrophe have never been higher that it is essential that people unify and begin dreaming solutions to the crises at hand.

Never before has the country faced times as bad as they currently are. Sure, there were the infant years where great heroes like Thomas Jefferson held together a nation stuck in a series of growing pains under the idea of freedom, liberty, and justice for all. The meaning of that line has been the heart of all of the great crises of the United States has overcome. From the abolition of slavery, to women's suffrage, to the Great Depression, through World War II and the subsequent Cold War, and the civil rights movement, groups of people banded together for a common cause and questioned the status quo meaning of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.

This concept from the first day of the Bush Administration faced a series of assaults that has undermined the basic principles of the United States democracy. All the while it seemed that much of the freedom, liberty, and justice for all seemed to be reserved for the elite corporate powers that continue to exercise their might throughout the world with the complicit backing of the government elected on the principle of government for the people by the people. It seems that every 50-100 years business take a death grip on the people and ends up collapsing the system due to the concentration of wealth at the top. Thus, the economy suffers, but it always recovers as the wealth becomes more evenly distributed. Until this happens the economy will be impossible to turn around without fairness and balance added to the economic picture. Most of the social issues in the country arise out of this simple complication, and until wealth is more evenly distributed there will not be the necessary human capital to begin to right the sinking ship.

Of course it will not be easy for an Obama led government and people to fix everything that is wrong with the American society. The problems are almost too numerous to name in full. The economy is in shambles; the No Child Left Behind Act has left all children behind; higher education costs continue spiraled out of control and limit many people's access; far too many people have no or woefully inadequate health insurance; there is an insane war in Iraq that continues to bleed the nation; the war on terror continues with no end in sight; the war in Afghanistan drags on and it appears there is no end on the horizon; the United States image in the world need major repair; the insane spending on the defense of the nation must come to a close; and the militarization of the police must stop. But that is not it. The inner cities continue to decay, the country remains sharply divided, and families have far too little quality time together. While it may appear to be hopeless, at least we have a leader that has the enthusiasm to inspire a nation. Obama's job is a far from envious position that most of us would curl up into a submissive ball of protoplasm over, but some one has to take the responsibility to lead the country back to respectability and stability.

When given the opportunity the American people have always prevailed, and now we have elected the perfect leader to guide the way. Obama's exceptional oratory skills, his ability to reason, along with his calm demeanor gives him the qualities needed to calmly guide the country through the times. May Obama's qualities find their way into the population, and may there be a renaissance of the American Dream. The last eight years have been guided an assault upon reason and decency, and the challenges will not be easy to overcome. But at least we can say we have source for hope for the future and have proven to possess the necessary enthusiasm to manifest a new reality that will guide the way into the future.

[sarek]

From across the ocean and probably speaking on behalf of most Europeans I express the hope that you are right.
God knows we can use some inspirational leadership right now.

[Theaetetus]

Originally Posted by sarek

From across the ocean and probably speaking on behalf of most Europeans I express the hope that you are right.
God knows we can use some inspirational leadership right now.

I hope I am right too. I am rather cynical and the only reason why I wrote this piece so hopeful was due to some of my friends outrageous optimism. I think Obama may offer the inspirational leadership the world lacks though. Just his rise to the position should inspire hundreds of millions of people.

[Khethil]

Originally Posted by Theaetetus

... Just his rise to the position should inspire hundreds of millions of people.

Nice post Theaetetus,

The quoted portion above is especially important, I think. What's very interesting about this dynamic of "positivism" is that the person whom its centered around need not... really... do or be anything. As people perceive, "... an inspirational assertion of our self will and need for positive change", such will be the case.

All the "doer" has to do, really, is keep their nose clean and happy-mania will continue to reap its own rewards.

The pack mentality doesn't have much of a "good side", but when such shows, it's so nice indeed!

Thanks

[Theaetetus]

It's rare when herd mentality actually gets anything right, which I think may be part of the point of trying to form people into herds.

Its rare when leaders of the elected world are inspirational figures. It seems that leaders nowadays are of an evil genius of sorts where they try manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Hell, Obama inspired me to write this piece, which may be my first positive political piece ever. I typically do not like to write about politics due to the negativity surrounding so much of modern politics, and the feeling that I am slinging mud at someone even if it is deserved.

I hope Obama succeeds because a trend of intelligent, thoughtful, enthusiastic politicians is probably what the world needs more than anything right now.

[VideCorSpoon]

Originally Posted by Theaetetus

I hope Obama succeeds because a trend of intelligent, thoughtful, enthusiastic politicians is probably what the world needs more than anything right now.

Ironically, they said the same thing about George W. Bush when he was elected to his first term. When the economic crisis hits the boiling point in a year or so, blame will be placed on the next presidential scape goat. Its the way of the world I suppose.

I don't know, I voted for Obama not becuase of his very skilled repertoire of rhetorical phrases, but becuase he is the populist choice. And one thing you never want to do is piff off the plebeians.

But honestly, do you really think Obama is entirely different from anyone else that has been on capitol hill? Do you think he is not susceptible to the same bureaucracy? Case in point, I just read today that Obama intends to accelerate the development of the missle defense system in Poland. If I am not mistaken, a year or so ago, this was major point of contention between the republicans and the democrats. Obama had even mentioned his disfavor with the deployment. Now here we are, Obama is elected, and he gives his full support to the sytem, and has even riled the current Russian government enough for them to threaten asymetirc batteries, something that the outgoing bush administration had managed to avoid.

One thing I was kinda hoping Obama would do is open up a dialog with Iran. That seems like one of his biggest talking points a while ago. He has not returned diplomatic dispatches of thanks from Ahmadinejad. I have to ask myself why he has done this? I think most problems in the world can be solved by talking it out. Yet here it is, a week or so after the election enforcing the current administrations embargo.

I think there has been a great change, one presidential personality for another. Beyond that, it seems very precarious.

[Aedes]

Originally Posted by VideCorSpoon

I just read today that Obama intends to accelerate the development of the missle defense system in Poland.

His caveat, however, is only if the defense system has been shown to be effective. This isn't trivial -- Bush NEVER responded to the criticism that we aren't even sure these things work.

That's the difference. He is thoughtful, he seems to listen to experts (rather than just allies), and he's willing to revise his position and not overcommit. That IS different than what we've seen.

Obama will never be like a Carter or a Bush (senior or junior), i.e. a huge disappointment. Everyone talks about the best case scenario of him being like another FDR.

But honestly the biggest risk for Obama will be becoming another Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was an utterly brilliant man with views far ahead of his time, but he was an impractical idealist and, in the end, his baby (the League of Nations) wasn't even ratified by his own country, it was an abject failure, and WWI led to WWII -- the exact opposite of Wilson's ideas.

Obama is also at risk of accomplishing too little by trying to accomplish too much.

[Theaetetus]

I don't think that Obama is all that different than other politicians, but he does represent a major symbolic achievement for the country. Not to mention, he does seem to possess is an ability to help others realize their potential just by being an inspirational figure head. The fact that he seems to live up the role of an inspirational figurehead gives him the ability to do something to change the direction of the world. Not to mention, it is nice to have a president who can speak and do so better than 99.9% of the population. At least Obama sounds presidential.

If you think about it, the economy was in nowhere near the shambles it was in when Bush I left office, and it towards the end of Clinton the economy was rather shaky but that was probably more on the shoulders of the Republican lead House and Senate than Clinton who oversaw a rapid turn around of the economy. Thus, I think the media played up this image of Bush as an agent of change because they knew their pockets would be lined if they played along.

[Theaetetus]

Originally Posted by Aedes

But honestly the biggest risk for Obama will be becoming another Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was an utterly brilliant man with views far ahead of his time, but he was an impractical idealist and, in the end, his baby (the League of Nations) wasn't even ratified by his own country, it was an abject failure, and WWI led to WWII -- the exact opposite of Wilson's ideas.

Honestly, this is my biggest concern with an Obama administration. Wilson, after history had it say, seemed to have been one of the worst presidents in history due to his impractical idealism.

What I do think though is that Obama is in the step in the right direction as long as the people hold him to some sort of standards.

[Mr. Fight the Power]

Originally Posted by Theaetetus

It's rare when herd mentality actually gets anything right, which I think may be part of the point of trying to form people into herds.

Its rare when leaders of the elected world are inspirational figures. It seems that leaders nowadays are of an evil genius of sorts where they try manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Hell, Obama inspired me to write this piece, which may be my first positive political piece ever. I typically do not like to write about politics due to the negativity surrounding so much of modern politics, and the feeling that I am slinging mud at someone even if it is deserved.

I hope Obama succeeds because a trend of intelligent, thoughtful, enthusiastic politicians is probably what the world needs more than anything right now.

I would just like to point out that these talented spewers of populist nonsense (I believe you call it inspirational leadership) are always the most dangerous. When any politicians manages to rally support around rhetoric of blind hope (or blind fear, in political discourse they are synonymous), they tend to hold a drastically disproportionate amount of power to push through their own agenda.

For examples, I note Lenin, Hitler, Mao, and Castro.