Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of The United States of America.
I think we all knew he'd win, but I was also terrified he'd somehow loose. After all, Bush won in 2000, and no one saw that coming.
The truth is, for the past eight years, I've been ashamed of my country. I was an expat in China, and when meeting foreigners, I'd try to avoid the inevitable question: Where are you from? I think more often than not, I'd say "I'm American, but don't hold it against me.", that is, if I actually answered the question.
Americans tend to live in their own little bubble. Few Americans travel abroad these days and internationally, we're made fun of for being so self centered as to have a national predisposition against learning a second language. Americans tend to think we're the center of everything, somehow the most important country in the world.
We know where that comes from. All over the world, people have been coming here to try their hand at The Great American Dream, but for the past eight years, us expats were not the only ones disillusioned. Chinese friends of mine, people who grew up in a decidedly communist country where censorship is tailored ala 1984, where the general public is being lied to on a constant basis about anything from The Long March to meteorological statistics, couldn't believe what Americans were letting happen in The Land of the Free.
The the war. The economy. The abundant lies. My Chinese comrades couldn't believe the injustice. There was less and less favorable things said about us. Fewer wanted to come to America. Fewer foreigners saw America as a place that offered any dream at all anymore. No one I spoke to over there, Chinese, Australian, British, Irish or otherwise, trusted or believed George W. Bush. I didn't either, and I still don't.
My long drawn out point here is that we've been in trouble. Even if some of us can't see it, the rest of the world knows and we've all been seriously worried about just how far down America would sink. I think over the past year, the majority of Americans, even the stubborn ones, have let themselves see how far off the track we've gone.
But last night, Senator McCain made his concession speech, and a sincere and level headed intellectual, Barack Obama, made his acceptance speech to the packed crowds in Chicago.
Its monumental. We all know just how important it is that he won. Yes, it's an historical event to elect an African American as president of the United States, but the real victory here isn't about race, it's about saving our country.
In the 90s, during President Clinton's presidency, America was on a consistent upward slope, enjoying a surplus, thriving in a booming economy and enjoying all of our personal liberties. Since then, we've had our liberties and dignity stripped away as we watched our economy drain out through a wayward war.
We needed Barack to win.
They say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but distribute this power among the ranks of the masses, and you will see tides of progress and monumental change. Historically, when the people as a whole have been allowed to play an active part of governing, when they have been given the power and ability to participate, huge obstacles have crumbled in front of their united effort and we have made great strides. The power of America has always been in it's people and for too long we have been cut off from influence, and have been made to sit and watch our lives unfold in fear. With our liberties and freedoms handed back to us, we have the opportunity to gain ground again in the scientific and technological race, we have the ability to be a sound leading country again and show the world just how much we can accomplish when the power is in the right hands: ours.
Barack Obama is a great man, but we must remember that he is just that: a man. For America to rebound from the last eight years, we need two things: an intelligent competent leader and the collective effort of the American people. One without the other will never work. He needs us as much as we need him, and that's why this day is monumental, because with him in office, we have a good chance of regaining our seat in office. What America has been missing these past years is the power of the individual and the influence of the American people as a whole. Hopefully this is what will change all that.
