Hail Caesar
Barack Obama makes me feel unworthy. He tells me that I am selfish, spoiled, and lazy. One could easily be upset at such accusations, but I have come to the realization that he has got me dead on. Our current generation thrives more on materialism and less on work ethic. We have taken America for granted.
Obama’s speech last night echoed John F. Kennedy when he said “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Obama’s campaign slogan is “Change”, but we cannot hope for change simply by casting a ballot, and sitting back and waiting for the government to do all the work. Change must start at the individual level. It is evident that the rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor. Those of us in the middle, may be working for a paycheck to pay the bills, but we also maintain a vast collection of consumer goods like snowboards, bicycles, guns, motorcycles, boats, and campers, among hundreds of others. We are the spoiled middle class. How can we truly relate to the really poor?
My own philosophy aside, I was very moved by the message projected during the DNC. Unfortunately, I was away from my home in Denver, but caught it all on TV. I was taken by Obama’s speech. I have never seen someone with such ability to motivate such a large mass of people by his words, except in history books. This candidate is unlike any in recent history. His followers seem almost mesmerized, hypnotized by his words. The collonade backdrop was no coincidence: Obama is an orator of the likes of Julius Caesar. If he continues to gain appeal at his current rate, the masses of followers will grow to a size we have never seen before. Larger than Reagan, larger than Roosevelt, larger than Kennedy.
One quote from the speech made me think. Obama said–no, promised–that we would be off the dependence of oil from the middle east in ten years. What is odd about that? Even if he does get elected, and then elected again, the maximum time he can serve is 8 years. How can he fufill this bold promise, if the final two years are out of his control? It could only be accomplished if he became so popular, that the people voted an amendment to extend his presidency indefinitely. Remember: Caesar was only supposed to serve a limited term, too.
Are we ready for the “New Empire”? I think I’m getting ahead of things. There is still an election to be had, that may start the ball moving. I think we have a great candidate that really, truly cares about the legacy of America and its people. If elected, he will do great things for the country and the world that we have never seen. However, we cannot afford to grant unlimited power to one person, no matter how moving and motivating his speech can be.