If one were to take a step back and look at this nation’s economic, social or political problems, I believe one theme will emerge – a general lack of morals and a team concept in all we do. Sure, we come together when a cause unites us in self-interest or greed, but can we as a nation truly think and function as our brother’s keeper? I hope so, but realistically I doubt it.
Our grandparents and great-grandparents’ generations were able to come together and sacrifice during the Great Depression and the world wars. Whether through planting their own gardens or the women working the factory jobs while the men were away at war, this nation came together – then.
Now, it’s golden parachutes, voluntary segregation and corporate scandal after corporate scandal. Unionization, in the beginning a good thing for workers, is now a joke for the most part. At its onset, unionization meant more rights, better pay and higher working conditions for American workers. Now unions are a joke and have given way to shipping jobs overseas to other countries where it is OK to exploit workers for less pay. To this point they have little power because of organized crime influence and the ridiculousness of the American auto industry in Detroit, with their lack of modernization and foresight.
This election will be a point of change for this nation and will either renew the American spirit or further crush and undermine it. I am glad I am not running for president and that it is Sen. Barack Obama, because at this point in history it will be as though the American president is Atlas with the world on his shoulders.
Many are hoping an Obama presidency will bring forth the change both he and the majority of the American people want and need. Try telling that to big business, our inept bureaucratic government machine or the vested interests of both.
Yes, this new aura of populist rhetoric from the candidates is refreshing, but we will see if they can put our money where their mouth is.
This nation of apathetic people can only truly bring about change by its own hand – the hand of the people. It begins with us. We must change, we must be the catalyst of this revolution, be it social, spiritual or civil disobedience.
History has shown us, through the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Civil Rights struggle, that the only way to bring about change is to fight for it and question authority. We will see if President Obama will be a transformational figure like the Rev. Martin Luther King, President Franklin Roosevelt or President John F. Kennedy. If he is not, time will tell and also show that the American people can only sit idly by for so long, and apathy will soon boil over into furious discontent.
Delano, a political science and history senior, can be reached via [email protected]
