Unless you were severely intoxicated for the past couple days, you are surely aware that our great nation inaugurated a new president on Tuesday ‘mdash; one Barack Hussein Obama. As expected, the event brought out masses of cheering people who watched him become the official leader of the free world. Unfortunately, the nanosecond immediately after Obama spoke the words ‘so help me God,’ the endless list of problems that are currently plaguing the United States were not magically fixed. Apparently, Obama is not the supernatural political deity that we all hoped he was. He may well follow through on many of the promises he has made, but it is unwise to think that simply electing him will fix this country. In fact, if you listen closely, the change that Obama has preached since he began his presidential campaign has very little to do with him. In his inauguration speech, he continued to underline this point ‘mdash; if we, as a nation, want to improve our quality of life and solve our problems, we shouldn’t kick up our shoes and expect a super-politician to do all the dirty work. Rather, we should bear the responsibilities of change.
At this point you may be asking the following: ‘Brent, I hear what you are saying and I really want to help, but how can I fix the economy, clean the environment and rehabilitate our image abroad?’ Simply put, nobody ‘mdash; not even Barack the Great ‘mdash; can weather this poop storm alone. But we can personally embrace the change our Chosen One has been talking about this entire time.
Take the economy for example. I think it’s safe to assume that no students at UCSD were the heads of banks and mortgage companies who decided to make irresponsible loans to unqualified applicants. Nor were any Tritons involved in global-sized Ponzi schemes that subsequently bankrupted innocent investors. Although we must now deal with the reality of these corrupt decisions, they can teach us an important lesson of fiscal responsibility and hopefully change the way we operate when it comes to the bankroll.
‘ But it’s not just the head honchos who are contributing to the problem. For many of us, the credit card is our best friend. We see something we like and before we can say ‘foreclosure,’ we swipe it without realizing that we are spending money we probably don’t have. This much is clear: unless you are earning an annual six-figure salary, you probably don’t need a Louis Vuitton bag or sweet new rims for your Honda Civic. Growing up as a Southern California native, I have witnessed obscene sums of money that young people spend on designer sunglasses and clothing, and I will readily admit that I have been guilty of this myself. But this latest financial collapse has certainly opened my eyes to Obama’s message of self-responsibility. Our president can surround himself with all the Ivy League economists he wants, but if we as a population don’t take the time to save and spend our money wisely, these problems are not going to disappear. I prefer to learn about the Great Depression in history class, not witness it firsthand.
The way we treat the environment and handle our natural resources is another trouble area that government policy alone will not solve. I, for one, am certainly tired of being berated by tree huggers who want me to wear compostable under
pants, but a toned-down version of their message is important for everyone to hear. We don’t all have to become smelly hippies to be more environmentally friendly. And although Obama proposes the creation of an entire new green industry that will focus on energy innovation and provide thousands of new American jobs, if individual citizens don’t start doing basic things like conserving electricity and water, it may all be for naught. If we all took the time to recycle our post-rager beer bottles and open windows rather than run the air conditioning, that would be a solid start. I know fixing the environment is something that necessitates a global undertaking, but this is America dammit, and we are supposed to be leaders.
Throughout history, a politician who comes to power based on a platform of change can prove to be dangerous. There is no doubt that Obama’s words have inspired a large portion of our population to expect more from its government. However, we must not fall into the trap that has been set for us. We must not let ourselves be quietly lulled into believing a shiny new president will instantly solve our problems. Remember what our iconic, 35th President John F. Kennedy said at his inaugural address: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you ‘mdash; ask what you can do for your country.’