Obama’s post-election politics
President Obama’s post-election politics have always raised questions in my mind, as well as for many other people I know who are interested in politics and governance. What gives? Why not put your money where your mouth is? Especially after saying “discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis” I have mulled this issue in my mind for a good year now and could not quite come to any conclusion other than that times of crisis were the best for bold policy moves even though they set in motion a series of both positive and negative changes. As long as the policies themselves were sound, they would move the country in the right direction, and the President should do what is best for the country regardless of political consequences.
But who am I kidding? As much as I support President Obama for his sensible policies for the country, I am being naive in ignoring the political imperative of leaders. So then what is the way forward? I was pleasantly surprised today to read an article that clearly outlines the leadership aspect of politics from a human lens. Mark Lilla, a professor of humanities at Columbia University wrote a beautiful piece in last weekend’s NYT Magazine explaining how the President must carry forward his policy agenda *while* addressing his political imperative. The thesis of that argument is that humans, and hence our politics, are driven by passions. So the president needs to link his policies to what drives people’s passions instead of providing logical explanations that appeal to cool, rational thinking. He must attend to his political imperative but while being mindful that as President, he is responsible for directing the country with implications not just for the next four or eight years, but our lifetime and possibly beyond, given the horizon of national policies.
Mr. President, you can influence the future of an entire nation, and likely many others, during pivotal times that are seeing changes in global order and socio-political compacts. The US must lead, by making right with its people first. Make us competitive while standing by our ideals (free market, human rights, free speech). Bring back jobs by lowering the cost of doing business via universal health care and re-adjusting our expected standard of living. Be bold, link your thoughts and ideas to our passions even if the country is not ready to listen to these truths. Have our people understand that the technological innovation for lifting the lives of people in the world these days is not necessarily going to come from the ultra high-end, cutting-edge basic science and technology research that the US is so good at but from simpler, inexpensive and practical advancements (see here). We will see countries like China and Brazil rivaling the US’s global standing by simply raising the standard of living of large swathes of their population using simpler innovations. If we remain stuck in our business as usual, we will soon have a bankrupt country with a few very rich people, and increasing numbers driven by bankruptcy and joblessness to poverty levels. Tell us how to compete in the world, Mr. President. Even if the truth is difficult to digest at first, it is better than fantasy.
