President Barak Obama
Like millions of other people, I watched today as history was made in the United States of America. We installed Barak Obama as the 44th President of the U.S.
Oddly, what is historic for us (at least in this case) is old hat for some other nations out there.
The fact that it has taken us this long and that it was such a big deal for us to have an African-American in the top spot in our country speaks loudly and clearly to how slowly this nation is to change.
But change it has.
And here we are in the middle of it all.
At least it's the middle from where I'm sitting. We still have a long, long way to go before we even come close to fully realizing the ideals put forth by our forefathers.
That path--the path to true greatness--is a steep and trying one. Wisely, now-President Obama has repeatedly mentioned how much work and how many sacrifices still need to occur. We have slid harshly back down the incline over the past decade and that distance needs to be made up before real progress is made.
The obstacles are many: our economy is in shambles, we are neck deep in two war fronts where we long ago lost the moral high ground, at least two more international and globally destabilizing conflicts are in our future (Israel/Gaza, Russia/Former Russian principalities), our prison population is growing unchecked, our court system is full to capacity...
We live in chaotic times and our technology brings it all right to our doorstep, keeping all but the most sequestered and sheltered well aware of how fragile safety and security can be.
But that fear has recently and clearly been replaced by a renewed hope. A hope that, with the changing of the guard, things will get better. A hope that, now that a major racial barrier has been hurdled, people's eyes will more favorably look on other races and cultures. A hope that one man can make all of our problems go away.
That hope, though, can be just as dangerous as the fear it is replacing.
One man alone does not--can not--make a difference. One man can inspire and lead, though. It is those who are inspired and those who follow his lead, who work hard at all levels of society, who make real change happen.
The challenge of change for the better will not resolve itself while we sit idly by. There is no magic word to make it all better, no mystical incantation that will turn all the bad to good. It takes work--and, as our new President has said, hard work--to make that change happen.
I only worry that there are too many caught up in the emotion of hope to realize that the dream will never come to pass unless that work is done. I worry that, when asked to give up, when asked to suffer for the greater good, people will balk, gnash their teeth and scream "Why have you failed us?"
When, really, it would only be us failing ourselves.
Much as we have done in letting things get as bad as they have.
I'm willing to work for positive change, but I will also remain vigilant. Apparent progress at the cost of our basic ideals--those freedoms dictated by our Constitution and its amendments--is only an dangerous illusion that we can not now afford.
Change will happen.
It always does.
But it is our will--the will of We The People--who determine if it is the change we want.
