Reclaiming America's Leadership Role: Barack Obama and Democratic Culture

The reason for the sudden political ascendancy of Barack Obama, accompanied as it has been by the awakening of unprecedented social, political and cultural sentiments, not only in America but also in the world as a whole, has been the source of much speculation.

We have seen those who would attribute these unanticipated developments entirely to Barack Obama's 'celebrity' status, which is as much to say they simply emerged out of thin air with no reference whatsoever to his substantive message for change. Others would argue that these developments have everything to do with the fact Barack Obama speaks slowly, thus almost hypnotically convincing his unsuspecting audiences of his significance. Others still would have us imagine these developments are the consequence of political sensitivities in America that would preclude an African-American candidate being subjected to the same degree of scrutiny to which a non-minority candidate would. This last theory is an especially curious one in light of the fact that the singular objective of the aggressive smear-campaign being conducted against Barack Obama has been to create fears about his 'differentness.' Fortunately, at this high noon moment in American politics, truth is not blinking.

No, I would not be inclined to attribute the awakening of such unprecedented social, political and cultural sentiments in America and the world to any of the above 'accounts.' What I am led to see, rather, is the fact of a deep resonance between the destiny of an individual and the destiny of a culture. What I am led to see is a resonance between the place at which Barack Obama has arrived by way of the unfoldment of his personal destiny and the place at which America and democratic culture have arrived by way of the unfoldment of a collective destiny. Barack Obama, we could just say, has awakened unprecedented social, political and cultural sentiments within America and the world because the change of which he speaks affords democratic culture unprecedented access to the next chapter of its unfolding destiny.

Today in the wake of the post-9/11 period, the false premise of a leadership that would place unmitigated power above dialogue and process, that would be so cynical and malicious as to substitute the contrived in the form of false absolutes and false certainties for the authentically meaningful and real, that would imagine that exclusive 'solutions' rather than inclusive solutions would lead to sustainable national and international solutions, has most certainly been exhausted. The way of power has lost its glory. The world calls out for a new beginning. Democratic culture seeks access to the next chapter of its unfolding destiny.

Power corrupts because it licenses those in positions of leadership to unreflectively, unilaterally and thus arbitrarily impose their will on others. Antithetical to the way of power and the hallmark of a leadership commensurate with the consciousness demands of the political realities of this age, as I noted yesterday in commenting on a posting by Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, is the orientation to inclusivity and process, which is to say, the equanimity to see and gather to oneself problems in their actuality and complexity, the wisdom and openness to obtain informed counsel, and finally the willingness to sit down with all parties concerned to achieve by way of direct negotiation productive and sustainable outcomes. Barack Obama has not only written about such leadership, but in the form of the 'how' he has conducted himself in his passage through the extraordinary ordeal of an American presidential campaign, Barack Obama has embodied it.

Comments

[ohioan73]

Plainly speaking, the goal of community organizing is to teach Americans how they may be involved and influence their own government as per the American democratic way. The main message is "Get off your behind, get mad, and DO something.­..together­. There is power in numbers"

This takes time and money. Community organizations are poor and have limited funds.

Barack Obama is a super-organizer. He did in one year what my org couldn't do alone in 50 years of door-knocking. Brilliant. Inspiring. Uplifting. We The People...

We. The People. The world is OURS.

[knowBuddhaU]

Beautiful! Transcendent!

We arise at the intersection of many dimensions, all mutually orthogonal to each other.

Walt Whitman expressed this in his poem to Lincoln. "O captain, my Captain!" O my fellow citizen, my noble Leader.

Here's how I say it. today.

O Brother! My Brother

Washington Poets Association
http://washingtonpoets.org/owas/view.php?a=1116
(First voice: Isis speaks to Osiris; second voice: a caregiver speaks to a retired pilot; third voice: we all speak with One voice; fourth voice: our shared Being aware of our shared Becoming.)

My brother is my God; yes,
My brother is my Husband, too;

My brother is my Pilot,
For whom
I am

Ground c r e w .

My brother is my Pater, He who
Rhymes with Mater in Water;

In sum, O Brother! my Brother! my Brother, He is
Y O U !

O Sister! My Sister

[First voice: Osiris speaks to his beloved Isis; second voice: Luke speaks to his sister, Leia Skywalker; third voice: we all speak with one voice; fourth voice: Being Aware of Becoming.]

My sister is my Goddess;
My sister is my Wife.

My sister is my Princess,
For whom
I bear
ALL STRIFE!

My sister is my
Mother!
Beyond whom

There is no

Other.

In sum, O Sister! my Sister! my Sister is my
L I F E!

dp

[NeoLiberal]

Well stated.

The difference between McC and BHO is how they expect those who vote for them to be involved in their presidencies: McC = follow me down my path; BHO = walk with me down your path.

[DoTheMath]

Thank you, Dr. Aziz, for this profound message. You have identified the critical difference between the two presidential candidates. One hides behind "false absolutes and false certainties," while the other reaches out for "the authentically meaningful and real." The implications of that difference are overwhelming.

I plan to repeat the following passage until I can recite it like the poetry that it is:

Today in the wake of the post-9/11 period,
the false premise of a leadership
that would place unmitigated power
above dialogue and process,

that would be so cynical and malicious
as to substitute the contrived
in the form of false absolutes
and false certainties
for the authentically meaningful and real,

that would imagine that exclusive 'solutions'
rather than inclusive solutions
would lead to sustainable national and international solutions,

has most certainly been exhausted.

[edwardleaman]

This is a moment in which we can see the nature of 'unfolding' identity in terms of both personal and national destiny. Robert Aziz is speaking to the synchronicity of how a man - a single individual - can catch the breath of a national moment in time, so that there becomes a reason why he is the right man for the nation at this time.

This moment called Obama is not accidental. As Aziz is saying, Obama's personal unfolding meets the country's unfolding. The question now will become, that should he be elected, can he and we move together as one? If we can then America's identity will shift towards a more mature and modern concept of nationhood, one in which we do not have to prove we are Americans to each other or to the world as a whole, but others and the world will be pulled to us because we hold, in consciousness, the meaning of what to be an American is.

Robert Aziz once again shows us that there is a reason why the change of which Barack Obama speaks holds such momentous promise for new outcomes in American history.