In office no more than four days, new President Barack Obama has gotten right down to action. David Plouffe, the campaign manager of Obama for America, sent a message and a video about the Organizing for America movement to the President’s email subscribers on Friday, Jan. 23.
When Barack Obama was declared our 44th President, you didn’t just revel in that victory — you started asking what’s next for this movement.
How is this unprecedented group of volunteers, grassroots leaders, and dedicated supporters going to help make change a reality?
More than half a million people shared their thoughts and ideas about moving forward, and we listened carefully. Last week, President Obama announced the creation of Organizing for America — a group that will work alongside the President to support the agenda you fought so hard for.
You can be part of its first steps.
But right now, your participation in the political process is more important than ever. We’ll soon be asking you to give whatever time or talent you can to support the President. With your help, we can bring change to Washington and the entire nation.
I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead.
Thank you,
David
It’s only the beginning of Barack Obama’s term, but emails and video like this demonstrate that he is actively encouraging the nation to work as a team. I know it seems a bit far-fetched, but I think we only have to look back to the election season to show how groundbreaking things can happen when people band together.
This is an attempt to return to Democracy at its finest; the people elected him, so he should listen to them. Obama’s term comes at a great time when our country and world are so connected, thanks to this wireless age. Previous presidents did not have the technological ability to really interact with the people–we now have so many outlets to let our voices be heard, and the President can communicate with us wherever we are at the tip of our fingers.
Understandably, the skepticism abounds. A comment I received in my last column raises very legitimate concerns regarding the future:
“I agree with you that all is not necessarily lost for the U.S. I think where we part company is the extent to which the American people will be willing to unite and sacrifice to ensure this nation’s long term competitiveness. I’m skeptical that President Obama will be able to change this. The reason for my skepticism is that for our long term competitiveness to be ensured, we will have to go through a transitional period. During this period, many sacrifices will have to be made. People will have to slow their consumption, work harder, go back to school, etc. In the past, it’s true that a common enemy has united this country to accomplish great and selfless acts. Today, we have a cultural problem in this country, something much more difficult to unite around, and I can’t see just going away. Afterall, people will be uniting around changing their fundamental shortcomings.
President Obama is talking about changing this culture. That is not a small task. Between now, and when the culture is changed, the U.S. will be in further decline. What are we going to look like, even assuming the cultural change can be accomplished? That’s entirely unclear.”
In my opinion, it’s not a question of “if” Obama can incite change. As evidenced by his election, he already has inspired millions of American people to unite and sacrifice for this country–many of whom never before cared about such things.
Real change may be hard to envision because of the fact that things have been the same way for so long. As the comment says above, the United States has fallen victim to a deep cultural problem and we’re used to it; we glorify it. We Americans, in general, have become a society too intent on consumerism, competition, and individualism. Shows like MTV’s My Sweet Sixteen and Bernard Madoff’s long-running ponzi scheme are examples of such.
However, I think this country has come to a point where we have no choice but to change our ingrained habits–we’ve reached an “evolve or die” crossroads.
Yes, America (I feel like Bernie Mac when I say that). We are going to have to start working harder. We have to think about others and not just focus on our own gain.
Sound impossible? Who were the desperate corporate executives forced to drive hybrid cars across the country and beg for money? It’s true that much of the $700 billion bailout has been seemingly squandered, but there will come a point where we won’t even have the means to baby the Mega Conglomerates. They used to be able to do whatever they wanted; now they’re in crisis asking for help.
I think the people of America presently have more power and strength than we’ve experienced in the past. Obama and his team have been quite transparent about what their plans have been, whereas with previous administrations, it seemed as though we were left in the dark, made to be afraid, and decisions were made without any regard to what we wanted. The book of lies also known as The 9/11 Commission Report is another example of such. I think it’s natural to be hesistant and skeptical of this possibility because our leadership hasn’t had a good track record with us.
It’s true, we don’t know what we will look like between now and “when the cultural change is accomplished,” but I believe the change is happening now and more of us are becoming aware of it. It’s baby steps, but nobody knows the future. Plouffe and Stewart stressed this in the video above–they’re not claiming to have the magical answers; they’re asking us ALL (liberal, conservative, young, old) to brainstorm on what we can do as a collective. There’s something to be said for compromise and cooperation.
The future has the potential to go a million ways and nobody can say for certain what is to come, so all we can presently do is unify and keep working for the greater good. That’s what the grassroots movement is all about.
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