An American entertainer by the name of Sweet Lips once described white America, as the doors black people must pass through to get to wherever they want to go. In other words blacks must get white backing in order to succeed in the United States of America. The culture of white support for Negros in the US is an established culture but it is felt that there are limits to the goals for which blacks could be supported to actualize. As a result the world was astonished when Obama won the American Presidential elections on November 4, 2008. What obama did served to demonstrate that greatness overcomes any form of limitation in the way of a man striving towards his goals, as the white House was considered the last place for any person of colour.
In the run up to the very elections that Obama won, a pro-McCain political analyst described Obama as a celebrity that tends towards the actors of Hollywood rather than a political leader. Obama however, is not the first black man to become a member of the American Senator. As a politician he was noted for his intelligence and strong dynamism. These qualities of his have been played up so much that people’s expectations of him have grown astronomically, not only at home but abroad as well. Thus he is expected to live behind a better world when he eventually leaves the oval office in many years to come.
The better world that Obama can bring could only be better in relative terms. This is because certain problems of man such that have made life less attractive such as poverty, ill health, disasters and death cannot be avoided but the avoidable woes have persisted due to man’s selfishness or emphasis on frivolities.
The problems that have plagued man on earth include poverty, disease and hunger, war and crime, injustice, terrorism and global warming. The ability of man to overcome his problems does not solely depend on one man. Rather it depends on our ability to unite behind that man for the purpose of the common good of the planet. It is feared that the huge differences that exist between the people of the world will make it impossible for Obama to change the world if that is the big goal he has set for himself.
There is a difference in ideology. An ideology is a belief. China more than ever before has reasons to hold on to its communist ideology. It believes that at the current momentum of its economic prosperity it will very soon become the economic powerhouse of the planet. It rode on the back of communism to achieve this. In the face of the Chinese economic prosperity the out-going American President, George W Bush, came out re-state America’s belief in Capitalism and its determination to continue the capitalist advocacy around world. At this point there is no prospect of the Chinese submitting to a capitalist nation for the sake of changing the world.
The protection of economic interest of nations is one reason why countries will find it difficult to cooperate for the sake of changing the world. George Bush Jr. is one who is willing to protect the economic interest of the US even if the action violates the principle of globalization, an idea of the developed nations. Bush is one who gives subsidies to American farmers and bans the importation of cheaper European steel into the US in violation of terms of globalization and with the sole aim of protecting the economy of the US. Bush by doing this was working towards protecting American economic prosperity and many nations would want to the same even in a situation where America under Obama is willing to make compromises. It is doubtful that Africans will buy the idea of a better world in which they cannot sell their farm produce
One big threat to a better world is the danger of global warming, a problem for which the US is largely responsible. Bush is also the one who refused to cooperate in the fight against global warming, as it will destroy the economy of the US. The ability of Obama to remake the world depends on whether he will make the compromises that Bush strongly resisted.
Religion an element of culture is also what people believe. The American secularism, and Christianity believes that a world of one man to one woman, a world in which men and women have equal opportunities to use their talents to achieve all that is possible, is a better world. On the other hand Islam, the other big religion of the world believes that in a better world, a man should be free to marry as much as four wives as long as he can care for them adequately. It also believes that men and women are not exactly equal. The ability of Obama to create a better world depends on whether he can convince these two religions and the others to close the gap that exists between them.
The world would have been much better than it is if terrorism never existed. One area of the world where terrorism is highly favoured as means of legitimate protest is the Middle East and the Islamic world to a large extent. In these parts of the world, terrorism has come to be used as a solution to the perceived injustice of the Western world to them. The “western” decision to back Jews into displacing them from a land and occupying it is one reason why this section of the world’s population will never forgive the west let alone supporting them to bring about a better world. It is will amount to the biggest miracle in mans history for the Palestinians to acknowledge the world is better while they remained outside of the land they consider to be rightfully theirs. As long as they remain outside of the occupied lands it is not likely that the terrorism will end, at least not in Obama’s time as the President of the United States of America. The Palestinian crisis started in 1968 and since them the west have never failed in its attempt to broker a lasting peace in the region.
Our ability to improve the world depends not only on our decision to support the American President for that purpose. It also depends on our ability to move together towards the attainment of this goal. The Millennium Development Goal is no doubt an attempt to improve the world. Yoweri Musoveni, the Ugandan President who delivered a lecture at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic studies in Nigeria on November 21, 2008 lamented the odds of working with a largely unskilled manpower. Musoveni queried how Africa would be able to achieve the millennium development goals. “Is it by magic” he concluded. If the world under Obama must improve substantially, than it has ever done, we must have to move at the same pace.
One of the major factors why Africa lags behind is the greed that often pushes African leaders into embezzlement of the resources of their respective countries. Kenya is one African country where economic growth has been slowed by the deep-rooted corruption of its leaders. When Obama visited Kenya, the birth country of his father, Barack Obama Sr. he openly condemned the leaders of that country for not just allowing corruption to thrive but for being directly responsible for the act. It is an indication of Obama’s resolve to change Kenya but the willingness of the leadership to cooperate determines the possibility of a corrupt-free and happier Kenya.
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