Opinion
Obama is first step, now get off your ass and work
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Also by Jack Garigliano:
- Liberal arts need funds and focus (November 12, 2008)
- Obama is first step, now get off your ass and work (November 6, 2008)
- GOP stoops too low for Joe Sixpack to stomach (October 30, 2008)
- Pluralism failed by UW's silence (October 16, 2008)
- Holistic admissions hurt the best (October 9, 2008)
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Take a deep breath. Fill your lungs with that sweet, sweet air of exhilaration. You, right now, are living in one of the most exciting and important times in American history. A brand-new president has been elected to lead our country. He represents a break from the past — it feels like a fresh new set of diapers has replaced the nation’s old, soiled, shit-ridden pampers.
His speech and attitude is stained with none of the petty squabbles, bickering and scare tactics that have polluted American politics over the last two decades. He calls for an end to the obsessive self-interest and narrow-minded concern for one’s own welfare that other politicians from both parties have encouraged for decades. In its place, he implores people to take responsibility for the well-being of the state, to make sacrifices for the welfare of their failing country and to come together as one nation to work for the common good. No president in recent memory has called upon those ideals.
Equally important, the thought of a black president was considered a far-fetched, idealized pipe dream only 20 years ago. Now, our new leader stands as concrete, tangible proof of the opportunity that America has always promised its citizens, but has always failed (and in many ways still fails) to completely deliver. Most important of all, the amount of support, enthusiasm and hope he inspires throughout America is unparalleled in our nation’s past. If the cold numbers of polling data don’t convince you, the mass euphoria and joy that erupted in the celebration march on State Street and in cities nationwide should.
However, even though Barack Obama represents a profound and promising change from the politics of recent memory, his ability to protect the nation’s future from today’s most pressing issue is far from ensured. The imminent threat of economic depression is a chaotic and uncontrollable crisis, and it would be naive to assume Obama can magically make it disappear. The economic recession will hit us no matter what steps the government takes. At best, the executive can only take away part of the pain that is sure to come.
David Brooks, the conservative New York Times columnist, described the problem of scarcity that we will face in the future, a problem completely alien to our generation that was raised in prosperity. “In the next few years, the nation’s wealth will either stagnate or shrink. The fiscal squeeze will grow severe. There will be fiercer struggles over scarce resources. … The challenge for the next president will be to cushion the pain of the current recession.” These problems will not go away when Obama enters the White House, and there is no guarantee he can fix them, even with (and some would say because of) an overwhelming Democratic majority in the House and Senate.
Our generation, the people who have just entered and are soon entering the job market, cannot look to Obama to improve the problems of the nation for us. If we are truly dedicated to Obama’s abstract but inspiring rhetoric of change, sacrifice and welfare, we must make that change ourselves.
Our generation’s participation in Obama’s election has already provided a crucial break from the past. Although the “youth vote” was not the deciding factor in Obama’s win, the campaign, run by younger people at the local level, used groundbreaking grassroots efforts to connect with supporters. Twenty-year-olds used relatively new technology like mass e-mails and text messages to connect with the voters before the news media did. Obama supporters were notified of his decision to run for office, of his primary win, and of his presidential win long before he stepped in front of the camera to announce the news to the nation as a whole. More, the wild display of enthusiasm for Obama came most vigorously from our age bracket. The spontaneous celebratory march on State Street, as I mentioned before, was truly a fitting image of what is hopefully a politically active generation.
Obama is in many ways the product, not the cause, of the change we wanted to see in the nation. His effectiveness is rooted in his ability to motivate us to act, in being able to represent the change we want to see and giving us a unifying goal toward which we strive. Several gentlemen over the age of 50 who regularly sit in on my Wednesday morning lecture told the class on Wednesday morning that this election was in many ways a way to make up for the mistakes of their generation.
The future will be a test of how seriously we have accepted Obama’s call for responsibility and sacrifice, of whether or not we can remain motivated and empowered enough to take control of current issues to support the changes we feel are necessary for the problems we see today. This could mean anything from helping as a taxpayer to “spread the wealth around” on the national level to the most desperate during the financial crisis, to taking local action toward the specific needs of your community. The specific changes we need are ill-defined in Obama’s rhetoric, but the motivation his message carries is just the kick in the pants our generation needs.
Jack Garigliano (garigliano@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in history and English.
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you have to be kidding…this election was so fraudulent. We have never been so in the dark with a candidate ever. He didnt answer important questions posed to him… He has been so devious in his answers we are amazed how he wasnt racked over the coals for hiding his associations and devious dealings with the radical groups..By your news letter I can tell you never spent any time researching his back gound other wise you couldnt have written such drivel… why dont you find out the real truth and print that.. your article was a waste of time reading since it wasnt founded on true facts just fanciful thinking… dont waste peoples time writing junk mail. there are some of us out here that care enough to check out the facts and we dont buy your falacies…. g…
Wow could it truly be that the most selfish, self centered, materialistic, me first, what can I get out of it, generation America has ever given birth to is ready to work for this “Change we can believe in”?? Only time will tell.
I could not agree with you more. Our work has only begun, and the real victory is that we’ve got the chance to begin it. For the first time ever, I have a real faith in the motivation for hard word and sacrifice by our generation. The shouts in the Rathskaller Tuesday night were never more emphatic than when Obama thanked “the young people who rejected the myth of apathy.”
After the 9/11 attacks, our president told us to go shopping and take a vacation. That is the ultimate failure in leadership.
1:31,
Your stupidity, ignorance, and lack of coherent spelling is absolutely beyond me. Please, do us all a favor, and educate yourself.
-A concerned citizen
It’s not about red or blue anymore - it’s all about the green.
BHO bought this election with dirty money and I predict that he will raise at least a billion dollars for his re-election campaign.
Now get off your ass and start fund-raising!
Has the copyright on CREEP lapsed?
Just because you can swear in an article doesn’t mean you should. Was it worth alienating your audience to print “shit-ridden pampers”? Was there no better way of saying what you meant?
@ 1:31 am
You are rambling about “real truth” yet you have no evidence.
“Wow could it truly be that the most selfish, self centered, materialistic, me first, what can I get out of it, generation America has ever given birth to is ready to work for this ‘Change we can believe in’?? Only time will tell.”
They (the Boomers) tried that in ‘92 and failed, so they got greedy and selfish, which is why they’re the only American generation to be taking both from their parents and their children.
Its up to us to shape the course this country will take. You said it right. Tuesday night was one of the, if not THE, most exhilarating experiences in my very short lifetime thus far. But we have to realize that we the people cannot trust our fate in the hands of those in the government. We still need to be active in shaping it, in guiding it, in showing our leaders what we the people, the individuals and communities this country services, really wants. If we’re not willing to fight for our dreams, goals, and aspirations then we should never reasonably expect it from any candidate, not matter how inspirational they might be.
I’m sick of red vs. blue, left vs. right. I’m an American and so are you, and we need to work together. We always have and we will always need to.
We gave these people the power, and if we really wanted to, we could take it away. The nation isn’t about them, its about us.
Power to the people. See you in the streets.