|
|
|
President Obama by: adam
|
|
 With every passing day the world grows smaller, it's people more connected, it's challenges shared. People are closer together today than in any other time in history - from the wealthiest nations to the poorest countries, the same products are traded and the same images are displayed. This past tuesday people in all corners of the earth saw the images and heard the sounds of a nation tearing down it's great barrier of inequality.
The world watched as a nation wept and embraced in jubilation. It was Martin Luther King's dream realised, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the New Deal. It was the renewed hope of a nation that had felt dreams were fruitless.
My generation and even those older do not remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. We were not around for Martin Luther King or John Kennedy, the end of the war in Vietnam or Korea. Our lives have largely been sheltered from the struggles of our parents, the helplessness of a crisis or the hope born from those who emerge from adversity.
All we know of the history that shaped America and the world has come from books, classrooms and the internet. Thus far we remained largely apathetic towards our nation's government - resentful of the past eight years yet lacking any first hand comparison. Barack Obama has changed that apathy into a yearning for change, a desire to sacrifice and a hope for a better future.
For lives marked by Facebook and MySpace, emotions abstracted into tiny icons that vaguely resemble a smile or a frown and attention spans shorter than a message on twitter - this victory and this election captivated the youth of the world. And it was in no small part thanks to the hard work and devotion of our generation that this 'new dawn of American leadership is at hand'.
Barack Obama speaks to the world as grownups; far from the values driven campaigns and petty name calling that has defined politics in recent history. He explains the challenges and knows we are a part of the solution. While his goals are large, the problems we face are great. Just as man did not land on the moon by dreaming of flying a plane, we cannot fix a nation without the confidence and optimism of the President-elect.
Over forty-five years ago President Kennedy told the youth of America, that it is you who have to decide, you "who have the longest stake, you who are the most concerned for truth, who have the least ties to the present and the greatest ties to the future." We have, as a global community answered that call and now it is time to get to work.
6 Comments | Friday 07th November 2008 07:07:19 AM
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
leadership
|
|
Our generation also never bore witness to the kind of positive groundbreaking leadership that is possible, from people like Ghandi and Mandela.
As a result, we've become a youthful generation riddled with not only apathy but premature cynicism. Cynicism in the democratic and political processes, cynicism in human nature and human potential.
More than breaking down racial barriers of the past, Obama is/will be the much needed catalyst for our generation to believe in positive ideals again. He'll inspire us and generations to come to follow in his footsteps to become exceptional leaders for social change.
That in my mind, will be his most significant legacy.
I'm really proud for the American people, and proud of your eloquence and passion. (it's totally hot. ;))
And on that note, i should turn idealism into action and do some more studying.
Mel | Friday 07th November 2008 08:16:16 AM
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." - Sir Winston Churchill |