Where did Obama go wrong?

Where did Obama go wrong? Here you have an individual who rose from a family that went through 2 divorces, raised by a single mother and then by his grandparents, that went on to higher education. Obama "pulled himself up by the bootstraps." He ended up taking out loans to go to college and then more college. He rose to become president of the Harvard Law Review. By all accounts he should have been a poster child for Republicans. So where did he go wrong?

Where did he go wrong? He did not choose to decide to make as much money for himself that he could possibly make. Surely, if he wanted to he could have risen equally as high in the corporate world. In the end, Obama chose not to pursue a corporate environment and gain personal wealth.

Instead, he chose to give back to his community. He chose to work in the needy neighborhoods of Chicago where he could help others reach higher. To assist others to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps." How could he possibly choose to help the collective whole over just being out for himself? That's Un-American.

So there is where he went wrong. He became Un-American by not choosing his individual right to be selfish with his life. He chose to help others instead of focusing on just gaining personal wealth.

I am elated that more people are seeing the true values of being an American by doing service for the community and others. There is a Native American concept of, the gifts you have are not yours alone, but belong to the community. They are there to make the community a better place.

Gee, maybe we as a nation will see that as not going wrong, but going right.

Sense of Hope

With the election of Barack Obama as our next president there is a sense of hope that I have. As I listen to Barack, his ability to articulate his thoughts and ideas are amazing. He seems like a genuine human being that has the capacity to listen. I see him as a person that is wanting to give the government back to the people. Let just briefly expound on those three points.

Barack has a command of the English language. When he talks, the sentences are part of a coherent train of thought that seem to roll off his tongue that invite the listener in to the way he views the world. Those view seems to have threads of common sense woven into their very fabric. It has taken us awhile, but we no longer have to cringe when our president is speaking in front of an audience.

The flip side of being able to speak coherently is the ability to listen. A good friend of mine once told me that true listening is the willingness to be influenced by another person. If I have already made up my mind before the other one speaks, not open to be influenced by the words they share with me, then I am not truly listening. Barack appears to be a very good listener which may be the reason why he doesn't jump to the podium every time a new crisis comes up. Instead, he listens to people around him before he comes to his conclusions.

I suspect that sooner or later he will change positions on various issues at which point he will be labeled a flip-flopper. Shouldn't we all be flip-floppers. Not just change our mind at a whim or for political expediency, but to change our mind when presented with new information. To change our minds after we listened to another person's point of view that allowed us a different insight. To often people refuse to change their mind even when presented with information that will contradict our original position. Yes, expect Barack to change his position on various issues because of his willingness to listen.

The last point is giving the government back to the people. His history as a community organizer will be great asset to him. At the heart of community organization is listening to the community and to help them create the community that they want, not what you want for them. It is to assist the community at the local level to determine how they want to make their community a better place. Community Organization will be allowed to flourish under this administration.

So it is with the election of Barack Obama that I have a sense of hope that we the people in the United States, will get back to what really are our core values, respect for all.