Inauguration of Barack Obama

I watched Barack Obama’s inauguration this morning, and I was glad to see him finally become the President of the United States. It’s true what they say, today is a historic day. Yes, America has finally elected its first black president. Well, he is actually half white. It’s strange how that half isn’t portrayed as significantly as his other half. And it’s even stranger, at least in my opinion, that a Harvard graduate and a Senator is still judged by his race and not his character by so many people in America. It seems like the whole world has embraced him and his message, but people here at home, the people that Obama wants to help, remain ignorant and hateful. It’s not even completely their fault. The sins of the father remain with the son. Hate is something we teach and pass on. Children soak up everything, the good and the bad. Maybe if every parent in America taught their kids that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, or what you look like, but instead that we should all be judged on the person we choose to be, then it wouldn’t be such a big deal for a half black man to be president. I don’t think having a black man as president is what made today great. Having a competent and charismatic man as president made today historic. The American people chose a man who is worthy to be their leader (by a narrower margin in the popular vote than I had expected). Judgments of race will continue to interfere with our innate abilities of reason and compassion as long as we consider it a factor in the character of a person. My point here is, let’s just drop the whole race thing. It’s only a big deal as long as we keep making it one. I hope that Barack Obama will be able to do some good during his term as president. I have a good feeling that he will. At the same time, I think most of our country’s problems are beyond the scope of one man to fix, even one in his position. The economy is a wreck, and I don’t think it’s because of a few bad or greedy men. It’s because of a destructive philosophy. The philosophy that each of us is not accountable for acting with moral responsibility. I think people generally know what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s wrong for one man to make a million dollars in a day, while a million men make one dollar in a day. But we don’t teach kids about moral responsibility to ensure our society’s collective wealth in the forms of good health and happiness. We teach them trigonometry and how to write an essay and then set them off in a world that passes you by if you don’t have money. I think to fix America, and the whole world really, we first need to think differently. We need to teach people how to think differently, in ways that will lead to growth, health, safety, and advancement, not hatred and regression to human vices. So this election is not just a new start for the White House. Let’s not put all our hopes on Barack Obama, it’s too much to ask of one man. Change will not come so easily. Let’s instead put our hopes on our ability to be selfless, moral, and productive.