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The greatest glimmer of hope for the world came on November 4, 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States .
Even as a Canadian, I was excited by the fact that the people of the United States elected a real person to lead them, a person with human qualities who actually cares.
On January 20, 2009 when he was sworn in as president, I watched with hundreds of millions of others in Canada, the US and worldwide totally consumed.
But was it the pomp and glamour of the event or the feelings of hopefulness in a world that seems derailed by greed, fear and anger?
How can we sustain that sense of hopefulness? How can we create a better world? Is it all up to this one man? Can he singly overcome the negative energies of our past?
There are two matters that I feel bear consideration in this discussion.
First, I feel it is totally unfair to Barack Obama for us to dump all of the world’s responsibility in his lap. He may be a very capable person, but he is not superman. If we are to survive and move forward from the lessons in this current cycle of economic activity, each need to realize that we all have to participate in creating change, a lasting change that will overcome the lessons we have created for ourselves.
We need to understand that each one of us is responsible for the creation of the financial turmoil that has been manifested at this time. It is only through our own efforts and willingness to make change that will create a new world that allows us to live comfortably without the worry or stress of going without.
Secondly, I feel that President Obama needs to recognize that he is not President only of the United States , he is the president of the world.
It is a very difficult position he finds himself in. The old tried and true method of American protectionism is the flame of life for the American people. They see themselves building an America that is strong and the leader of the world economy again.
Fortunately, for President Obama, he is a flexible and very smart man. Unfortunately for the American dreamers, the flame of American protectionism blew out about 20 years ago.
What do Americans want to protect? The jobs that went to China, Mexico and other developing nations? The Trillions of US dollars owned by China ? How about the factories set up by American companies in Canada , will it help the American economy to see subsidiaries of their own companies shut down? If anything that will cause more unemployment in the US as these companies struggle with less revenues.
We have entered a new age whether we choose to accept it or not. Over the last 20 years every country has melded its economy into that of their trading partners. Through the use of the world wide web, we have created joint ventures and friends around the world. There are no more borders! They only exist in atlases!
American protectionism is an outmoded concept. World protectionism is the new order. I feel that it is the position of the United States and President Obama to act as the elder brother to the remainder of the world. Rather than trying to rebuild through exclusion, the new economy needs to be rebuilt through inclusion, inclusion of all citizens and nations on our planet.
As we have seen in Europe , the same will happen eventually for all of the world. It is time to let go of the “me first and only” attitude. It is time to lay down the guns and the manipulations and open our arms, (the ones attached to our bodies) and begin the process of creating the one world of the New Age, an age where we base our decisions on mind and heart working together for the good of all.
Namaste
Monty Ritchings
www.powerofsafety.com
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