The Way I See Things

In 1991, Americans led a UN-sanctioned, armed and determined, coalition of nations to liberate the State of Kuwait from the clutches of an invading, occupying Republic of Iraq. This operation--Desert Storm--served as rallying point for global citizenship, international collaboration, and a statement of worldwide opposition to tyranny. Historians, economists & social scientists of many nations will examine the impact of that operation for decades to come. But today, in this time of change in our nation, a change that will help shape our future in a time of multitudinous crisis, something more important, more vital, seems apparent...
The American...
1-year olds, 2-year olds, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7-year olds of that time...
Grew to be...
The...
11-year olds, 12-year olds, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17-year olds...
The American pre-teens and teenagers of...
2001.
And of September 11th of 2001.

Many of us have lived our entire lives in the shadows of actual wars; substantive military conflicts; and the threat of epic, cataclysmic military destruction. For me, it has been the Cold War, Vietnam, Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Gulf War, the War on Terrorism as well as a number of other conflicts and skirmishes.

And now those children, they are the American...
Late Teenaged Years; Young Adults; High School Graduates; College Students...
The...
18-year olds, 19-year olds, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-year olds...
And Newest Voters.

Innocents when the tragedies of 9/11/2001 occurred, they've spent their formative years living beneath a shroud of fear and mistrust--both inward and out. They've watched their government contort the living symbol of liberty--the revered Constitution--behind shadows of lies and deceit. In ways few previous generations were able, they've witnessed blood and treasure sacrificed before their eyes--in real time. Their future becoming collateral for a monetary, historical and cultural loan, with no path for its replayment. Left to them. A loan they had no choice or voice in making...
And now...
They can have their say.

How have those events informed and impacted their lives and experiences? What will be their vision for a new world? How will they express their consent or dissent with what their government has done? Is force the antidote to hate? When the Berlin Wall fell did our generation see opportunity and optimism? Did we embrace the chance to leave fear behind? Or did we witness a vacuum, emptiness and lack of opposition? Did we need to fill that space with new adversaries? Did we need more arenas in which to prove our dominance? Our greatness? New ways to establish and extend our victory? The world become fields of most fertile ground, hungry for the seeds of democracy, and we the only qualified farmers?

In the spirit of motivation, we give our youth messages that oftentimes portend violence:
'Progress and growth are the products of power and conflict.';
'Victory no matter the cost.';
'Survival of the fittest.';
'Competition not cooperation.'...

We continue to live in a language of enemies...
Not friends.

I think the record participation of these young people are saying...
'We're going to say something different. We're going to speak WITH the world, not dictate to it.'

We know many of these young people disagree with how our country approaches conflict--how we wage war, how we continue to interact with our international neighbors. (We demand, we sanction, we warn, we threaten.) We know they're uncomfortable with how we shepherd their natural resources, what we waste and squander. (We pollute, we waste, we ravage, we burn the earth.) We know they're fearful about how we broker their future, the way we not merely profit but plunder. (We have a student loan debacle that ranks as even more odious than oil companies pocketing tax incentives.) I imagine they're confused about why--with so many other growing, expanding and emerging nations...
Why did we leave so many of the most urgent problems for them to solve?

Regardless, they're striving to help themselves...
We need to give them some assistance.

This is what makes Senator Obama's candidacy so meaningful. So relevant. And what distinguishes him from his opponents. He is a man looking past personal achievement, and into the greatness we all can share, to which we all aspire...
A great nation of even greater people.

Senator Clinton, in one of her misguided attempts to mock him, spoke of 'celestial choirs'. I say to you that Senator Obama is not a celestial body, but he is a lens. And he seeks to focus the brilliance, the radiance, that is this nation, America, embodied by this Republic, for which we all stand, indivisible, with generous liberty and justice for all. He speaks to an immediacy of action--that things need to change, now; a world that values and strives for inclusion--and that should be our righteous fight, not exclusion; and inspiration that our future will indeed be different--better, historic, in stellar not pedestrian ways.

Things, for profit's sake, we've made more difficult...
We need to remake them easier.

Since Senator Obama is the first participant in this incarnation of the Hardball College Tour, I hope we can do something for those looking to serve the future via a better education...



From the New York Times:

"Tuition has gone up twice the rate of per capita income. If the cost of milk had risen as fast as college since 1980, as Grassley has noted, a gallon would be $15." (link)

And...

"In a fierce contest to control the student loan market, the nation’s banks and lenders have for years waged a successful campaign to limit a federal program that was intended to make borrowing less costly by having the government provide loans directly to students."

"President Bush’s budget reports that in 2006 for every $100 lent by private lenders, the cost to the government of subsidies, defaults and other items was $13.81, while the same amount lent through the direct loan program cost the government $3.85. The battle for dominance in the loan market has escalated as tuitions have soared and students have borrowed more. This is the context for many of the payments to universities and financial aid officials that have come to light as a result of recent investigations into student loan practices." (link)

To finish...
A corollary:
Last evening, I received an email from one of the groups on Senator Obama's website. It was about...
Mrs. Klein.
"...Mrs. Klein of Glenside. She is 93 yrs old, cannot walk very well nor drive, but she contacted me to see if she could volunteer, somehow, for Senator Obama. Apparently, how she got involved, was from her granddaughter, who lives in South Carolina. Mrs. Klein is very eager to help out in some form. She said to me, "I just want to feel as if I contributed something"."

Here is a person who, with her voice, her vote, has helped shaped this current nation. And like others I've heard, she's listening. Listening and helping her granddaughter create our future nation. In a noble and honorable way, she's contributing even more fully to the legacy of her children, grandchildren and future generations. We all hope to live fully, to benefit, from our existence, here, in these United States. But, ultimately, isn't everything we do meant to benefit the future?
Ours and those that follow?

And certainly...
I hope someone from the Obama Campaign thanks her directly.