With the inauguration ceremony quickly approaching, I found it enjoyable to follow the newspaper over the past few days. You read about skepticism, hope, fear, and faith all in regards to Barack Obama taking over the Presidency. Today, Tuesday, January 20, I found a very interesting article in the New York Times entitled For the Jobless, Hope and Fear For a New Day. It started off very subtle explaining how many people are living off of unemployment checks, attempting to make ends meet while realizing that these checks may not exist for much longer. What really helped me follow this specific part of the article was how journalist Peter S. Goodman used numbers as examples, so those individuals who were not in the same shoes as people hoping for unemployment checks could somehow relate and understand the situation.
Continuing, Goodman received a very interesting quote from a man, Mr. Lewis, who was applying for an extension to his unemployment paycheck at an employment office in Columbia, South Carolina. Mr. Lewis told Goodman, "I haven't seen the change. Until he does something, he's just like all the rest of them to me. He ain't done nothing for me." What caught my attention about this quote was the reality check that it provided me with. I found myself wondering if it were truly possible for each and every person in our nation to benefit from Barack Obama's plans that would soon be put into action. From there I thought about the pressure we put on someone who is just like you and I, waiting for them to change the world and save the nation. How realistic are these standards that we hold Obama to and will we personally feel the change that we have been promised?
This article really challenged me to see the economy from those individuals views who seem to be suffering more than I and find themselves jobless. It also enabled me to wonder what it would be like to be in the shoes of Barack Obama, who now has the weight of the world on his shoulders to not only bring us out of this recession but to provide a nation that has slowly depleted for so long with faith, hope and change.
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“From there I thought about the pressure we put on someone who is just like you and I, waiting for them to change the world and save the nation. How realistic are these standards that we hold Obama to and will we personally feel the change that we have been promised?”
ReplyDeleteThis is a great point! I was thinking about the same thing the other day. I was watching Fox News when Sean Hannity started talking about all of the “change” hype and “Obama merchandise” that are sweeping the nation. Hannity proposed the question: is all of this hype a good thing?
The hype started early on with a series of moving and charismatic speeches, jam-packed party-rallies, and finally, “change we can believe in.” Then came along rap songs, books, posters, bobble-heads, and now they are even selling complete Obama dinnerware sets. (In fact, the only person whose face I’ve seen plastered on more items lately is Hannah Montana.)
The nation is currently in the worst condition it has been in recent years and we’re expecting Obama to swoop in and save the day as though he’s America’s knight in shining armor. But what if he fails? What if he can’t live up to America’s expectations? Is it even possible for anyone to live up to these standards? I don’t think it is possible and yet, we still expect him to be the nation’s “savior.” It almost seems unfair.
No matter what happens in the next four (or eight) years, Obama’s presidency will go down in history. I’m just concerned that this crazy hype will distort our perception of any good he does if he doesn’t live up to our expectations.