Posts Tagged ‘america’
Quite a week for the world
For me, the day of real excitement and history with regard to Barack Obama becoming President of the United States was actually the day he became President-Elect: that was the point at which the country did something amazing and hope was kindled, in the words of Gandalf. I did however watch all of the inauguration last Tuesday, the bit of most interest to me being his inaugural speech. In general I was very impressed: the speech was blunt, honest and to the point, with some soars of most graceful rhetoric but also with clear guiding principles set out. It was on the level three of debate: it didn’t speak of creating x jobs or withdrawing y troops, but it set up ideals: Obama wants to restore America’s reputation (however little I may care about reputations he means restore a reputation of justice and fairness); cease to make compromises on liberty in the name of safety (for me this was the most important thing in the speech); and try to move away from the hold that superstition has over American politics by being more inclusive of more rational ways of thinking
Obama may have praised a regulated free market as a way to create prosperity and he may have called for patriotism to make the world better, but this is only the means by which he argues the goals that we in fact share should be achieved. While I may argue that only a socialist world can truly create peace and prosperity he disagrees, but still holds the same aims in mind. And the fact that he was happy, in his first speech when responsibility as well as expectation weighed upon his shoulders, to not shy away from what he had promised, to not equivocate and compromise unnecessarily makes me trust Mr Obama a great deal. Yes, in his heart of hearts he may be a no-good power-grabbing politician as they often are, but right now I am prepared to give him a chance, I’m prepared to believe that he may be out for the world. This world desperately needs a leader who can turn the tide of selfishness and greed and try to bring about a return to valuing liberty, and a move forward against poverty. Right now, Obama seems to me to be our best hope for that.