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Diversity of ‘small thinking’ |
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Written by the Editorial Board
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Sunday, 25 January 2009 |
The election of President Barack Obama has led one of the nation’s leading magazines to question whether the historic selection of the nation’s first black president symbolizes the end of “White America.”
More specifically, that seemingly scary prospect for some entails the end to the monolithic view of “America,” giving way to a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural collage that is seen in a rise in interracial marriages, the ascendancy of hip-hop music and constantly changing norms of beauty.
Just as important as diversity in culture, ethnicity and racial makeup, however, is diversity of ideas, something which America cannot yet claim to have come near achieving.
Is this the limit and scope of the government’s ability to pull us back from the economic brink?The Democratic and Republican parties have long held a duopoly on political thought, but now both seem inept at thinking outside the proverbial box to address the nation’s biggest problems: climate change, healthcare, the economy, education, racial disparities, poverty, globalization, terrorism.
Years of throwing money at such problems like education, the “War on Drugs” or oppressive regimes has not, apparently, instructed our leaders that while this nation’s founding fathers presented the answer to British oppression, their pictures on small green pieces of paper cannot cure all of our ills.
Fitting to form, Obama’s first piece of major legislation will likely be a “stimulus package,” following his predecessor’s lead in calling for more tax cuts to stimulate the nation’s recessionary economy. Obama’s plan, however, also would tag on money for infrastructure projects, such as roads and bridges – a tactic followed by a less immediate Obama predecessor, President Franklin Roosevelt, during the Great Depression.
Is this the limit and scope of the government’s ability to pull us back from the economic brink? Borrowing and printing more money that will further drive our nation into debt while simultaneously diminishing value of our dollar? This is it?
In fairness, Obama’s election portends more hope for true change in America than did the Republican alternative. But we hope the president’s actions will live up to the words in his pre-inaugural address.
“What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives — from ideology and small thinking . . .,” Obama said at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.
[The Atlantic, CNN, LA Times, BlackPoliticsOnTheWeb.com]
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