Obama’s election was a resounding affirmation of the best parts of the American Dream – that anyone can “make it”.  It was a much-needed beacon of light and hope after 8 divisive, bullying and destructive years of the Bush-Cheney administration.  Obama at present has enormous goodwill and political capital, which he could use to nudge the USA and the world in a more sustainable and cooperative direction.

However, change will not be easy, especially within America.  Despite what seemed to be a one-sided victory, the USA remains quite conservative, with only a 4 million difference in popular votes between Obama and McCain, who held the heartland of America. The Religious Right is still influential and the military-industrial complex as powerful as ever. Moreover, America’s system of governmental “checks and balances” makes far-reaching change very difficult.

The greatest challenge will be to change the capitalist “Free Market” economic system, which to many Americans, is synonymous with the American Dream itself.  Ever since President Reagan in the 80s, those advocating an unfettered Free market, with no government intervention or control, have become increasingly influential and the power and size of corporations have grown accordingly, creating monopolistic situations in many sectors of the economy.

After thirty years of these policies, with deregulation accelerating under Bush-Cheney, certain facts are becoming clear. Large corporations can not only pressure but hold national governments hostage because of their impact on the economy and jobs, even within the richest country in the world (think about the exploitation opportunities within poor, Third World countries!).  American banks, insurance companies and perhaps car manufacturers are now being bailed out by the government, having fought against government intervention and in many cases, having acted with incompetence, greed and sometimes criminal intent.  Corporations have no allegiance to individual countries or concern for the welfare of the People and can fairly easily shift their operations to other corporations or countries.  Why do we think that our well-being depends on Corporations?!! I doubt that our greatest philosophers, artists and spiritual leaders would think that cheap prices for goods and services is the answer to the existential question, “What is the purpose of my Life”?

Such policies have also accelerated the gap between the growing poor and the super-rich and have contributed to the degradation of the environment, since there is no financial or criminal penalty for pollution and neglect.  Even within the wealthiest countries, air, water and food now carry increasing amounts of toxins, that fuel cancer and other diseases… which we Free Market individuals pay from our own pockets or with our quality of life or Life itself!  In a completely Free Market, there is no qualitative decision as to how we use our common (increasingly) scarce resources, since short-term profit is the main determinant and demand can be created by savvy, big-money advertising.  At present we spend heavily on weapons (many too destructive to use or else we have to start a war in order to us them), entertainment, techno-gadgets etc, while basics like food, care of the environment, basic health care etc, are neglected.  Until recently, gas-guzzling Hummers and SUVs were “cool” big sellers, despite the fact that the days of cheap oil were obviously over and they were big polluters.  The Japanese saw the writing on the wall, but American car manufacturers did not.. yet they still get a bail-out from the pockets of the ordinary people.  In the future, robotics, genetic manipulation and nanotechnology will be the “cool” innovations, and they will create many “unforeseen” problems since they are capable or self-reproduction and incorporation into “human” beings.

I’m not sure how much of the above Obama embraces, but if he does support it, he will in turn need the discerning, long-term support of the average person, which is the life blood of Democracy.  We, the voters, cannot merely hope for extraordinary leaders… we have to raise our consciousness not only to recognize the appropriate leaders, but perhaps become leaders ourselves.  The world is now a global village and needs global citizens…. Forthcoming blogs will elaborate on this.