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Obama vs American Success
By John | January 16, 2009
What if the United States and Russia should exchange people and institutions? What if all of the people currently living in the United States were to move to Russia, and all of the people now living in Russia were to move to the United States? And, in each case, the people were to bring with them all of their institutions, beliefs, traditions, etc.?
Under these circumstances the world map would not change. The United States would continue to be populated by “Americans” and Russia would continue to be populated by “Russians.” They would be different people, of course, but citizens of the United States are called Americans based upon their geography, as are Russians.
What’s wrong with this picture? When we think of “Americans” we don’t think of ourselves as just populating certain global territority. We think of ourselves as sharing certain values, beliefs, and institutional traditions. i.e., We think of the term “American” as applying to a freedom-loving people who believe in personal responsibility, self-reliance, optimism and a willingness to make our own futures.
OK, so why am I stating such an obvious truism? Because I believe it is relevant to questions being asked about the incoming Obama administration. Those who did not vote for Obama are being asked if they want him to succeed. The implication contained in that question seems to be that, if you don’t want him to succeed, you are just playing partisan politics - you are just jealous that “your guy” isn’t in power.
Well, I have a different perspective. Do I want Obama to succeed? Generally speaking, my answer is no. Why? Because Obama has stated that his objectives involve taking away individual freedom and replacing it with government authority. I really don’t care who is president, as long as he does the right thing. But when one runs for office explicitly stating he will do the WRONG thing, how can I want him to succeed?
I am an American, not because I was born here, but because I CHOSE to be an American. I support American values. I support individual freedom. I don’t want Obama to succeed any more than I want Putin to succeed. Unfortunately, I believe they have a lot in common - they both seek power at the expense of their respective citizenry.
I want America to succeed; not Obama.
Topics: Government Excesses |
June 15th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Hi, very nice post. I have been wonder’n bout this issue,so thanks for posting