An Inaugural Invocation For A Man of Goodwill

The role played by gut feeling or subjective value judgment in the assessment of character is not to be underestimated, especially in politics. So when it comes to the decision making process of selecting our leaders, although we will listen to what the pundits have to say, although we will read biographies and autobiographies to discern how the candidates were shaped by the events and circumstances of their lives, although we will study their policy statements, we invariably will find, after having weighed all of the above and more, that our subjective value judgments will be that upon which we will ultimately draw in answering the one remaining, yet crucial question about the political package that has been held out to us. That question being: 'Do we buy it?'

As with all serious shopping outings, where product comparisons have been entirely exhausted, the answer to that question typically will only come by way of a subjective value judgment. So what exactly was the comparable subjective value judgment on the part of the American electorate that resulted in Barack Obama's stunning victory? I would say it had everything to do with their gut-level conclusion that Barack Obama is fundamentally a man of goodwill.

Now I am not suggesting that in elections past the goodwill factor has always held such sway over the American voter. Frankly, I am more inclined to imagine the opposite; for it seems to me that in elections past the goodwill factor has more often than not presented as a liability, especially in matters of foreign affairs. But at this particular moment in history, having witnessed firsthand the human and economic costs of the shameless ill-will of the post-9/11 leadership, the prospect of the office of the President of the United States being held by a man of goodwill struck visceral chords with the American electorate. Barack Obama was elected President of the United States because America, after having exhausted the ill-will scenarios of the post-9/11 period, came to believe within her heart of hearts that the only way forward, the greatest hope for her ever-mounting foreign and economic challenges was to elect a President who would solve problems, not create them; a President who would be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Barack Obama was elected President of the United States because America came to believe within her heart of hearts, based on what she was told and observed, that he is a man of hope, a man committed to finding the very best way forward and as such fundamentally a man of goodwill. Perhaps we could just say Barack Obama was elected President of the United States because he was perceived to be, first and foremost, a goodwill fundamentalist, which is to say, someone who believes in the infallibility of goodwill, something no doubt his mother instilled in him.

Of course there are those who would argue that the attribution of goodwill to Barack Obama on the part of the American electorate has no basis whatsoever in reality and has everything to do with the projection of an ideal. I have spoken to this ill-founded conclusion with far more detail than I can here in my recent book Democracy and Self-Organization: The Change of Which Barack Obama Speaks. The change of which Barack Obama speaks, I explain in that work, is neither vague nor groundless, but rather, functional and substantive. The change of which Barack Obama speaks constitutes an altogether new approach to doing politics within democratic culture--an inclusive and process-based approach that directly correlates with the profound leadership initiatives of President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Americans elected Barack Obama because they had had more than enough of the carnage of foreign policy unilateralism; they had had more than enough of the fixed form ideologies of neo-con politics; they had had more than enough of one-dimensionality; they had had more than enough of a leadership that couldn't competently juggle even one ball at a time; they had had more than enough of a leadership whose modus operandi was to manipulate and impose on, rather than work with and through; they had had more than enough of a leadership whose blind-faith adherence to an ideologically-driven agenda would keep them from even beginning to approach solutions commensurate with the highly complex domestic and foreign policy needs of this age.

Americans elected Barack Obama President of the United States because they believed that as a man of goodwill he would have the consciousness and resolve to encounter life as it can only be truly encountered, as a dynamic process. Americans elected Barack Obama because they believed he would have the consciousness and resolve to release democratic process from the grips of lobbyists and power politics. They believed that as a man of goodwill he would reach beyond what I term false absolutes, the false absolutes of secular and religious ideologies, to engage in process the reality of what is. America elected Barack Obama President of the United States because they believed in all situations he would in good faith take the real factors at play into consideration to reach the best possible solution for all parties concerned. And it was for this very reason that so many longstanding conservatives, including some very prominent ones, got behind Barack Obama's candidacy during the election. Americans elected Barack Obama President of the United States because they believed that as a man of goodwill he would reach beyond the false absolutes of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religious belief or lack thereof, to name but a few discriminatory possibilities, to receive people in process as human beings first and foremost.

No easy course awaits the new President. There will be unrealistic expectations with which he will have to contend. So perhaps we should just let it be known that the goodwill path of Barack Obama's presidency will not be without hardship and suffering. What it will do, however, is conduct America and democratic culture from a place of meaningless or unproductive hardship and suffering to a place of meaningful or productive hardship and suffering, the Iraq war being one of the more distressing examples of the former.

Going forward Barack Obama will be navigating in largely uncharted territory, which will make it all the more difficult for him to know if he is on or off course. At times complete disorientation will occur regardless of his intentions. He will need to understand that genuine goodwill is not always regarded as such by everyone and can even offend. Of course this is exactly why most politicians lack the moral fortitude to show it, pursuing in its stead political capital. As inauguration day approaches, the Middle East finds itself yet again in a downward spiral, and if there were any place in the world in need of some of the genuine stuff it would be there. How Barack Obama positions himself on this crisis from day one as President will produce no small butterfly effect on the unfolding destiny of that most volatile region.

Barack Obama has yet to assume the chair of the President of the United States. In a matter of days, however, he will do so. No individual truly thinks as President until the chair of that office has been assumed. At that moment it is as if an altogether new and different thinking cap is put on. So can there be any doubt that on January 20th the prayers and most heartfelt best wishes of America and the world will be that the consciousness so constellated will be a consciousness commensurate with the goodwill promise of Barack Obama's historic campaign?

Comments

[JCCPlayford]

I am in awe at how you can just be so true, deep and clear.Thank-you

[KWade]

If I understand Aziz's overarching argument correctly: Nature is self-organizing, and therefore so are people. Because of this, people are naturally drawn to their true nature, whether they know it or not. Since Barack Obama is a powerful expression of our true nature (as manifest through his goodwill), and since the change of which he speaks (focus on process, not absolutism) is consonant with our true nature, we affirm his presence with our vote.

I think this is a fresh new perspective on explaining the existence of democracy, as well as its importance. I also think political scientists would be interested to read about it in a formal political science journal.

[edwardleaman]

Dr Aziz, once again, orientates us all to the potential for change with Barack Obama as our president. Obama is different because he voices America's genetic make-up for change. As Manifest Destiny drove the nation forward for many years in the context of new land, and then it, itself, became the Manifest Destiny of personal success, Obama meets the new Manifest Destiny of America, that of life lived in reality, made clear by our present problems and issues and brought to light so dramatically over the last eight years. In this way we could say that Obama and America have been brought together at this time for a reason, and America has had the foresight to know, somewhere in its own consciousness, that we are both at a precipice of doubt and worry about our future, and a place of new start and new beginning, under new leadership. People vote as a statement on the present with a hope to the future, and Obama offers a future to a country, and nationhood, that has always thrived on real leadership. America is exciting because it has historically always been willing to embrace new ways forward and move to them through real challenge and difficulty. Advanced democracy relies on the courage of its electorate, and Dr Aziz helps us beautifully to understand that the moment when Barack Obama takes his chair in Oval Office is a synchronistic moment when a country and man meet to move a nation's destiny forward.

[theMightyT]

What Dr.Aziz is discussing has nothing at all to do with Manifest Destiny, one of the most harmful and even evil philosophies in recent human history. In fact, the concept of manifest destiny is antithetical to Aziz's thesis.

The definition of manifest destiny, and its unfortunate application, was a justification for the eradication and absorption of native americans, the employment of slavery, w.a.r, the breaking of treaties, and other assorted at.roc.ities. Rather than a celebration of collective good, it became a justification for collective greed and even collective e.vi.l.

All based on the conviction that the New World (specifically North America) was granted to white chri.sti.an europeans - given by the Chri.sti.an g o d to his adherents.

For more on manifest destiny and the damage it did, read here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny

It's the broken thinking of manifest destiny that's also contributed to the most disastrous decision making in the 21st century - the idea that American-style "democracy" is ordained by the Chri.sti.an g o d as a cure for all political, social and ethical ills.

[DavidRynard]

Dr. Aziz has again provided us with model and framework upon which to see the possibilities of the momentous change that is possible in the government of Barak Obama. Through the lens of the syndetic paradigm, it is even more clear that this represents a crucial paradigm shift in bringing life-sustaining movement in the evolution of American consciousness. Let us hope that the American people are up for this challenge, and that they do not fall prey to holding the Goodwill of which Dr. Aziz speaks up as a false absolute. Rather, may they support his administration as a dynamic process unfolding, embodying this message of Goodwill and Hope for the sake of all humanity.

[erikdohnberg]

Well said! I think Barack Obama has the potential to enable many Americans to push past the 'false absolutes' entrenched in our society. If Barack Obama is able to continue with the goodwill approach demonstrated in his election campaign, democracy will be progressed, as Dr. Aziz explains in Democracy and Self-Organization, and the doors of change will be opened.

[EstherEnterprise]

I buy the good-will message of Barack Obama and his team.

I hope your words will find their way to then President Obama when he needs them most; just naming the inevitability of feeling disoriented at times will have an encouraging affect when he experiences doubt.

I would like to learn more about how good will can be poorly received, even to the point of giving offense.

Thank you, also, for reminding us that there will be hardship ahead for all of America. If we can celebrate the good things proceeding from the hardships ahead, in contrast to the bad things which proceeded from the previous leadership, we will find the fortitude to persevere and even to celebrate.

If Barack Obama's leadership sustains the integrity of his good will, he will deserve the support of commensurate good will.

Andrea McIntyre

[brendasherrell]

As always, we found your words powerfully moving...the sort that reach down inside and grab your courage and desire to believe in something greater than yourself.

[mjmoyer]

Because, as you state, Obama's convictions reach beyond the false absolutes (ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious befief) the goodwill that we perceive in him is one that Americans can believe will include each and every one of them. Also, it is something the global community can believe will touch them as well.
I agree that the path for Obama, the US and the global community will not be an easy one but it will now be a path forward, a path led with integrity, intelligence and goodwill- something sadly lacking in the post 9/11 leadership.

[includere]

Thank you Dr. Aziz. Your commentary helps us to get our bearings for the 20th and as we go forward together from there.

[PadraigT]

Beautifully put. I think the distinction drawn between the electorate "projecting an ideal" vs sensing an encounter with a man of genuine goodwill is paramount. Many don't get it yet, but there is a vast world of motivation floating around out there beyond the shriveling globe of "Enlightened Self-interest."

[patricksimpson]

I think after watching Bush's exit interview this article clearly underlines how Bush fails to see the real US situation. By far the most pressing terrorist military action is the elimination of the threat raised by Osama Bin Laden. So when Bush mentioned that he had a security briefing every morning, how can he answer King that he has no idea where he is... It is striking how Obama is approaching this situation with a lot more heart.

[ButchMcLarty]

I can tell you one thing that I am 100-per-cent certain of.

At no time during the past eight long years did I "buy what George W. Bush was selling." I think I would have required a massive frontal lobotomy to buy that load of warm-and-runny hooey.

Barack-a-Hula has a lot more on the ball.

I just hope things work out for him and the USA. He should start by condemning the slaughter in Gaza.

[hilarylangley]

There is great practical power to goodwill. I look forward to seeing how it plays out in the near future. Good article!

[JohnFromCensornati]

BHO was elected because we have a two party system, the GOP has run us into the ground, and he ran a better campaign than Hillary. It really isn't any more complicated than that.

[cgr]

Excellent words. Thank you.