Some thoughts on… Inaugurating Realism
The first African-American President of the US; an administration elected with the most number of votes; a withdrawal of troops from Gaza by Israel; the most disliked Presidency’s final day. January 20th 2009 was historic on so many dimensions, that the word “historic” seems almost trivial -- there is a feeling we are living in a fairy-tale.
Two million people came to the freezing Washington Mall to witness the peaceful transfer of power from a hobbled administration to one bringing new hope and change for the country. The picture of the former Vice-President, Dick Cheney, pushed around in a wheel-chair was emblematic of a fallen administration – history will tell if it can regain stature.
The elation felt by the nation and the world is well earned. We all want to feel good about our country again and to reshape the future towards the possibilities we each envision. And yet, President Obama’s speech wasn’t the feel good message that people thought it would be. It was sobering, tempered, pointed.
So was the inaugural address not inspirational enough and too much of a downer? Let’s look at what was actually said.
At the very beginning there is stark acknowledgment of the economic, military, and foreign relations challenges facing the nation, and a blunt statement to stop looking for whom to blame and start repairing the issues.
Everyone can help to ameliorate the situation, whether or not they are recognized for doing so.
In a scathing indictment to the W. era, there is a recognition that the war on terrorism is not an excuse to divert our attention to these challenges.
There is a statement that we all have an obligation to solve these problems, and we can not rely on just the government to fix the issues.
And finally, a promise that any solution to the economic, military and foreign relation challenges must extend to the poorest populations of the country and the world.
This is a call to action as inspirational as JFK’s inaugural speech “Ask not what the country can do for you but what you can do for the country”. The reason that it may seem like a downer is because we are not living out a Bollywood ending.
Over the past eight years, we were fed euphoric doses of cotton-candy truth – a declaration that we were “Mission Accomplished” on the Iraq war back in 2003; a system of “orange” level security alerts where we never see green or blue. This heightened reality reflected some truth, but like any TV show or movie, belied a false sense of comfort. By eating this candy in our virtual movie theater or living room, we tacitly accepted that other dimensions of our system would be ignored – declining levels of primary education, dilapidated trust of our fellow countries, over-reliance on foreign oil. But the candy tasted really good while we watched the show.
We ate that cotton candy willingly. But now that the show is over and the lights are on again, we are presented with some vegetables and protein and told to face the real world. We have to work hard and correct the course of the country and the world we have been ignoring for so long. The awakening is painful; the detoxification jarring.
As difficult as it is to swallow, the message is clear. “The world has changed, and we must change with it… this is the price and the promise of citizenship”
January 23, 2009
Two million people came to the freezing Washington Mall to witness the peaceful transfer of power from a hobbled administration to one bringing new hope and change for the country. The picture of the former Vice-President, Dick Cheney, pushed around in a wheel-chair was emblematic of a fallen administration – history will tell if it can regain stature.
The elation felt by the nation and the world is well earned. We all want to feel good about our country again and to reshape the future towards the possibilities we each envision. And yet, President Obama’s speech wasn’t the feel good message that people thought it would be. It was sobering, tempered, pointed.
So was the inaugural address not inspirational enough and too much of a downer? Let’s look at what was actually said.
At the very beginning there is stark acknowledgment of the economic, military, and foreign relations challenges facing the nation, and a blunt statement to stop looking for whom to blame and start repairing the issues.
“Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms…On this day we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of
purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end
to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out
dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
Everyone can help to ameliorate the situation, whether or not they are recognized for doing so.
“Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor – who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”
In a scathing indictment to the W. era, there is a recognition that the war on terrorism is not an excuse to divert our attention to these challenges.
“We reject as false the choice between our safety and out ideals”
There is a statement that we all have an obligation to solve these problems, and we can not rely on just the government to fix the issues.
“For much as the government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which the nation relies.”
And finally, a promise that any solution to the economic, military and foreign relation challenges must extend to the poorest populations of the country and the world.
“…a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The
success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross
domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity.”
This is a call to action as inspirational as JFK’s inaugural speech “Ask not what the country can do for you but what you can do for the country”. The reason that it may seem like a downer is because we are not living out a Bollywood ending.
Over the past eight years, we were fed euphoric doses of cotton-candy truth – a declaration that we were “Mission Accomplished” on the Iraq war back in 2003; a system of “orange” level security alerts where we never see green or blue. This heightened reality reflected some truth, but like any TV show or movie, belied a false sense of comfort. By eating this candy in our virtual movie theater or living room, we tacitly accepted that other dimensions of our system would be ignored – declining levels of primary education, dilapidated trust of our fellow countries, over-reliance on foreign oil. But the candy tasted really good while we watched the show.
We ate that cotton candy willingly. But now that the show is over and the lights are on again, we are presented with some vegetables and protein and told to face the real world. We have to work hard and correct the course of the country and the world we have been ignoring for so long. The awakening is painful; the detoxification jarring.
As difficult as it is to swallow, the message is clear. “The world has changed, and we must change with it… this is the price and the promise of citizenship”
January 23, 2009