A Mythic Hope and a Brightening Dawn - A Politic Blunder Feature

I can think of few people who last night were not nailed to the front of their televisions, or nervously clicking the refresh button over and over, or drinking to excess. I was doing all three. Obama's election means a lot to black Americans, and it means a lot to the soldiers in Iraq, on either side. The internet has been awash with testimonies and open letters to this effect. But it bears a special and separate significance to the rest of the world. Obama gave us a short few lines at the closing end of his speech, affirming that we had a shared destiny, with the caveat that it would be under a 'dawn of American leadership'. 

So what fate the billions of non-Americans who hope for not just a change within America, but a change between America and the rest of the world? I am but one small Italian student in London, ostensibly with no stake or power in the events that shape the so-called 'Leader of the Free World'. Obama's presidency means first and foremost the end of the Bush era. Neoconservatism, John Bolton's psychotic proclamations of the primacy of US interests 'above all else', two destructive and unsuccessful wars, and an unhealthy redolence of the Cold War with China and Russia. These were all hallmarks of the Bush doctrine, and we can hope to see these things disappear from American discourse under a successful Obama presidency. America has long been aware that the world despises it, but it is now becoming aware of the fact that this matters. 

Obama is a thoughtful man, and one who clearly prides himself on his intelligence, which is more than can be said for either Bush or the Republican candidate. This, along with his rhetoric of change and his policy promise of negotiations without preconditions mean that we can look forward to a USA that engages with the world more as a participant in the world community, rather than regarding us as either accomplices to their interests or terrorists. Obama's affirmation that this new dawn was one of American leadership was politically inevitable, but it remains disappointing. America should not have to rely on its sense of entitlement and exceptionalism for its identity. I believe we may see change in this direction in the next four years.

Almost as intense as the optimism and hope that swelled following news of Obama's victory was a hard knuckle of cynicism and doubt. You can always count on some pundits to try to take a negative spin on any overwhelmingly hopeful and positive turn of events just to appear more nuanced and sophisticated than those poor naive who truly believe things are worth being happy about sometimes. These commentators point to the huge problems the world still faces. The continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continuing shitstorm in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a big fuckoff financial crisis that has everyone not only scared for their lives and livelihoods, but collectively embarassed by how little we understand about the forces that control our homes and our markets. 

The pundits are idiots to be cynical about Obama. If anything, we should be more hopeful and optimistic that this kind of starkly positive change happened right when the world truly needed it. Of course no one expects Obama to actually be a messianic figure that will solve world poverty and beat Osama Bin-Laden at Street Fighter Alpha 3. But everyone who is genuinely happy that Obama won and thinks that things will get better from now on is far better an analyst of political opinion than either the grim naysayers of the high-minded broadsheets, or Gore Vidal.