Change You Can Believe In

During the BBC's early election coverage this evening, a journalist for The Independent suggested that there would have been no Barack Obama without George W. Bush. To clarify, his argument was that the Bush administration has been so detrimental to the USA that it has helped facilitate Obama's route towards the White House. It is true that in response to the damage Bush Junior has caused, there seems to be a very real desire for change and indeed, bringing about such change has been Obama's recurring campaign theme. I'm not claiming to know enough about the politics to be able to expand on this argument in detail. But perhaps if George W. Bush had not been so disliked a president, if Americans had not become so disillusioned, if Bush had not proved to be so incompetent in so many ways, there would not have been such a profound desire for a leader who was the antithesis of this. If the media is to be believed, there certainly seems to have been a greater interest of Joe Public in the presidential campaign and consequently with making the effort to actually vote. Apparently, the turn-out of voters is much increased in many states, particularly with young people and those from non-white backgrounds. I do not believe that Obama's popularity is solely the result of a rejection of Bush. However, perhaps there would not have been the same motivation for change, if the situation hadn't warranted it so much.

I think it's an interesting point that sometimes things have to get to rock-bottom in order to force a person into action. Perhaps it is true of many things, not just this particular political situation. Without the hugely detrimental aspects of life, one might be content to sit back and let things happen, to wallow in the sleepy haze of apathy, while life passes by, unobtrusive and uneventful. We shouldn't need to wait for the bad in order to appreciate the good, and even less so to actually identify and acknowledge the good. But sometimes, when lulled into a false sense of security, one fails to see the decisions made that are leading towards disaster. Sadly, one often needs to see one's own ill-made plans brought to fruition, in order to realise the consequences of them. Only then can the mistakes be acknowledged and rectified and action be taken to avoid the mistakes being repeated. Sometimes, as with Bush's re-election, one needs a second chance to learn that lesson and get things right. In any case, recognising the need for change and making that first step towards achieving it, is exactly that: a first step. A great start does not guarantee a great finish, or even a good journey. Perpetual effort is necessary in order to maintain what one has started.

If Obama is announced tomorrow as America's first black president, I hope he lives up to the change he has claimed America (and indeed the rest of the world) 'can believe in'. But more than that, I hope that all those who were motivated to vote by the desire for such change will not lose that motivation, but will seek to make the small changes within their power - in their own lives, homes, families and communities - to be the change they so desperately want to see, whatever the result of the election.