Founding Fathers’ Dream of Liberty For All Is Finally Realized

A truly historic day as America’s most talented politician, Barack Obama, assumed the presidency of the United States of America. High on his rhetoric, his idealism, his realism and his hope, I am only more optimistic about the future.

The democratic election of a non-white president, son of Kenyan father and a Kansasian mother, is the realisation of the second glorious sentence in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

As for his view of the credit crunch, he did not pull his punches, and does not underestimate the scale of the challenges ahead. He could be talking about any Western nation…

Obama’s Analysis of the Problem

“Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.”

Obama’s Solution

“The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.”

Balance of Power shifts towards a Benevolent State?

The relationship between the state and the individual will change, the ‘invisible hand’ of the market won’t be cuffed, but will be gloved (i.e. greater transparency), and the USA will aim to live up to the high principles of liberty and equality to which it has mostly only paid lip service. Very interesting times ahead!

However, we are not all going to buy into big government, high taxation, more regulation, more intervention and less personal power (unless things get better). Yet it might be the right solution right now. We will find out soon enough.