Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Jon, and I’ve lived in the heart of Canadian politics – Ottawa – for each of my 22 years. This is my first foray into the blogosphere, and I have been critical of it in the past. The main issue I had with bloggers is that many tend to hide behind the anonymity and security of their online personae. The distance created between the blogger and his/her audience by the internet allows the blogger to say things that she/he would not say if standing face-to-face with another person. So, I make a promise to you, my reader. Every word that you read in this, and any future postings I make, are words that I would be proud to speak, no matter the situation. And with the preamble now out of the way, let me tell you how Barack Obama will change the world.

He came to power on a wave of hope and change, promising to restore transparency, accountability, and integrity to the political scene in Washington, and for the first few days, he did just that. But suddenly, controversy arose over certain of his nominees for various cabinet positions, and suddenly the President looks either a) no different than his predecessor, or b) guilty of the inexperience that his opponents accused him of during the campaign. But all of this has been exaggerated by the American media, which requires controversy and scandal in order to keep its viewership. All of this is irrelevant anyways. Barack Obama will not save the world by appointing an all-star cabinet, nor will he destroy it (any further) by appointing a lame duck cabinet. The only thing President Obama needs to do to change the world is be a competent leader. That’s it. Why? Because he has inspired millions simply by running for office and getting elected, and as long as he isn’t a colossal failure, his inspiration will survive beyond his presidency.

It is no secret that Barack Obama was a huge hit among young people, not just in America but worldwide. Personally, I have been passionate about politics for as long as I can remember. My experience has taught me that I am in the minority, at least among my fellow 18-24 year olds. And I don’t blame them. It’s an aftereffect of the baby boom. Agewise, the North American population is top-heavy, and since the boomers form the largest voting block, that’s where politicians put their focus when an election comes around. The only promise my generation gets come election time is a vague promise to make post-secondary education more affordable, which has yet to happen. So a lot of us don’t bother getting involved with politics, and those of us that do often don’t bother to vote because there simply is no point. I have been observing this trend, and the only conclusion I could foresee is that once the boomers were largely dead and gone, and my generation was the one sitting in the House of Commons, that’s when we’d finally start to matter.

But suddenly, that changed. Barack Obama has given my generation a shot of adrenaline that has woken us up. Friends of mine are now talking about politics, and not only that, but Canadian politics! These are the same friends that, just 3 years ago, couldn’t name a single MP, other than party leaders. I know one guy who is talking about running in the next federal election. The youth are stirring and are ready to re-enter the world of politics. This new generation of politicos is more informed than any previous generation, thanks to the internet, which also allows for communication in ways that were unavailable to our parents and grandparents when they were our age. Because of this, when it comes time for my generation to take over the reigns of power for the human race, we will be light years ahead of every previous generation. And this is what will truly change the world.

President Obama, despite his best intentions, will ultimately have had a minor impact on the fate of the world at the end of his 4 or 8 years in office. The culture in Washington is still far too partisan and stubborn for him to create real change in the short amount of time he has (the same is true in Ottawa, though our leaders seem only too willing to propagate petty partisanship) . But it is not about what he does in office that will define him, it is the way he does it. If at the end of his presidency he has begun to transcend partisan boundaries and bring both sides together, he will have taken the first big step in changing the world. He has already inspired millions of young people to get involved in politics and try to make a difference. If he can demonstrate that partisan lines can be broken, that ideology can take a backseat to compromise and pragmatism, and that democracy can function without corruption, he will have blazed the trail for the next generation of leaders, the ones that will have not only the tools to change the world, but now the circumstances in which it can be done.

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Tags: barack obama, united states, youth

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 7th, 2009 at 9:56 pm and is filed under united states. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.