Straight Talk
Yes we can
WHAT, if anything, does the election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president of the United States mean to us here in Bangladesh? There are those who would argue that any euphoria on the part of Bangladeshis would be misplaced -- that his election means nothing to us and will do nothing for the nation. But I think that such a narrow and determinedly cynical reaction misses the full picture.
For starters, at a very basic level, Barack Obama's election as president will make a significant difference for the better when it comes to US policy, both domestic and international.
The entire world, Bangladesh included, has suffered a great deal due to the ill-conceived policies of the Bush administration, and when it comes to a host of issues as far ranging as energy policy to environmental policy to nuclear non-proliferation to family planning funding -- there is no question that an Obama administration will be an immeasurable improvement on the present.
But it is more than just policy. It is a question of the kind of man who will sit in the White House come January 20, 2009.
Obama's election means that the new US president will not be someone who has contempt for world opinion, but one who wishes to re-integrate the US into the community of nations as a good global citizen.
Obama's election means that the most powerful office on the planet will be inhabited by a man with true compassion and empathy in his heart for the down-trodden, even those far from America's shores, and who understands the impact that US policy can have, for good and ill, on the wretched of the world.
Above all, Obama's election means that the next occupant of the White House will be a man of unusual thoughtfulness, judiciousness, and integrity, who believes in and appeals to the best in human nature, and who will strive, even if he cannot always succeed, to do the right thing.
I do not care that that he will put American interests first. I would expect nothing less of any American president. It is how these interests are defined and how he will balance competing humanitarian interests that are important.
I do not care that some would consider him a protectionist. It is more important to me that he is a compassionate person with empathy for working people the world over. I would take someone like Obama over a right-wing so-called free-trader who has contempt for the rest of the world and cares not a whit about the rights and dignity of working men and women, every time.
So that is why I think it does make a difference to have this man in the White House, and why I think it is important to Bangladesh that a man such as Barack Obama has been elected US president.
But I would go further, still.
I think that it is important that the US play a constructive role on the international stage and I think that it is important that the country will once again, after eight long years, show its best face to the rest of the world. A more progressive and enlightened America will undercut our Bangladeshi obscurantists in the same way that having George Bush in the White House these last eight years has helped them.
And the institution of policies that are both more fair-minded and effective will be a welcome counter to the cynicism that is the mother's milk of both the pseudo-religious militants and other enemies of democracy who believe that things are so bad that the only way to fix them is to blow it all up and start over.
Nor is it true that for most Bangladeshis Obama's election will not mean much, that it only holds meaning for the elite who watch CNN and BBC. Give people more credit than that, their awareness, their capacity for hope, and their desire for and ability to seek inspiration more respect.
The story of a black man of humble origins rising to the highest office on the planet, the living proof that anything is possible in this world, is one that is already beginning to ring in every corner of the country, warming hearts and fueling dreams.
This is the greatest gift of Obama's presidency to all of us. It has shown us all that there is always hope, that anything can happen, and that, as easy as it is to find reasons to retreat into cynicism and gloom, that to believe that change is possible is the better, more fulfilling path.
The road may be long, the journey may be arduous, and we may not get where we would like to go in our life-time, but the first step is to believe that it is possible.
The biggest enemy we have is cynicism, the belief that things are hopeless, that things cannot get better. When a critical mass of people believes that there is no hope, it makes it exponentially harder to turn things around.
So the lesson for us all is to take heart and to harken to Obama's message of hope. We can argue that we do not have a leader like Obama to lead us to the promised land of our dreams. Well, maybe we don't, but, then again, who knew who Barack Obama was five years ago? For all we know, our own Obama is out there, just waiting to emerge.
But, ultimately, the lesson to be learned from Obama's rise isn't the lesson of the difference that one extraordinary person can make. The lesson is the difference that millions of ordinary people can make if they get together with the belief that they can change history.
Obama is a truly remarkable leader, but, as he himself understands, his story is not just the story of Barack Obama. It is the story of the millions upon millions of common men and women who put him where he is today by donating small amounts of money, holding neighbourhood meetings, persuading their friends, going door to door, and, finally, voting for him on November 4.
If we want the world to change, we cannot sit around waiting for a messiah to come and change it for us, we need to get out there and change the world ourselves. We need to organise, one person at a time, we need to forge alliances, we need to do the difficult, back-breaking, often unrewarding work to build a movement and then a country.
We can't all be Barack Obama, but we can all be foot-soldiers and do our little bit to build this country into the land our fore-fathers and mothers fought for. We just need to believe that we can do it. If there is a lesson to be taken away from Obama's victory, it is this. Yes we can.
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