I can’t remember if I mentioned that I bought both of Barack Obama’s books. The campaign to see who gets to campaign against the President is in full swing, but I anticipate a fantastic political season ahead. And these will be fascinating references.
I’m sure to call our President a whole bunch of “ists”. I suspect I’ll call him a socialist. For sure a statist. Without a doubt a lefitst. Maybe even a communist. Who knows? But is it fair? Is it fair to label a man those things without really kinda knowing what that man thinks, and feels, says and write?
I think maybe I owe him the benefit of the doubt.
So here it is. Barry O in his owns words. Here we can see what he really thinks, or thought, as he put pen to paper.
Before I go into the books I wanna write down what I think of the man, his life experience and his beliefs.
- I think that Obama’s view of America is unlike that of virtually every American alive. He grew up in a state that had only recently been granted statehood. He didn’t grow up in the America that we envision America to be. He grew up in an island paradise hours from the mainstream mainland of America.
- I think that Obama was highly influenced by his education in Indonesia. I think the schools he attended, the friends he had and the society he lived in had a tremendous impact on his world view.
- I think that his mother was a very far left wing radical.
- I believe that when Barack Obama attended college he sought out non-mainstream individuals and organizations.
- I think that Barack Obama sees the American version of capitalism as flawed. I feel he believes that it creates winners and that it creates losers. Further, that the losers are not losers of their own actions.
- I believe that a young collegiate Barack Obama cared for the poor, the weak and the downtrodden; I think his cause was a noble one.
- I think that he entered an occupation that would help those he saw as victims.
- He became political and became a player in that system. Especially that system of Chicago politics.
In short, the people that surrounded a young child Obama and the people that surrounded an older Obama were not mainstream Americans. These were people who held an antagonistic view of America. An antagonistic view based either on nationalism or one of “nature”, as in, what is Americanism?
So, I begin by reading Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama.
I have a very different reaction than you to the attributes you think may define the President. If your view is true, that would mean President Obama has a widened horizon, he has seen and understood the world from multiple perspectives — from his Kansas upbringing with his grandparents (which no doubt had a huge impact on his world view) to Indonesia, Hawaii, and college. This to me makes him a superior candidate, one who understands the world and the need not to have a parochial perspective as we enter a new era of globalization, one where the US is no longer the dominant power, but has to work with others economically and politically. This requires an ability to understand diverse perspectives.
However, in looking at policies and actions its clear President Obama has been on the conservative side of the Democratic party. He has more often than not gone against the far left, most of whom see Obama as “Republican Lite.” I do think he sees flaws in how capitalism operates, but he doesn’t see markets and capitalism as per se flawed; the flaws can be fixed so that opportunity and initiative determine outcomes, not the structure of the game. I have not seen anything “socialist” ever from Obama. Even health care reform has been less statist than what conservatives in Europe strongly support (and those conservatives are often fiercely anti-socialist!)
But I am interested in what you think after reading what he wrote. His record and policies, however, are probably most indicative going into the election.
If your view is true, that would mean President Obama has a widened horizon, he has seen and understood the world from multiple perspectives
Without doubt my view and understanding of America is much more rich as a result of having moved out of that little farm town near the Banks of Plum Creek. Living in Minneapolis exposed me to a whole new world, then Seattle, then Arizona and now North Carolina. Traveling across this country has certainly colored my existing understanding of America. Further, if I were to travel to various other nations, I suspect that my appreciation and understanding would grow in a similar manner.
But that is not how I see Barack Obama. I do not think that he lived in what you and I think of America. His view of our country is one from the outside, not the inside.
from his Kansas upbringing with his grandparents (which no doubt had a huge impact on his world view)
I think his grandparents were from Kansas; I don’t think Barack spent even 1 day of his life living there.
However, in looking at policies and actions its clear President Obama has been on the conservative side of the Democratic party. He has more often than not gone against the far left, most of whom see Obama as “Republican Lite.”
I have said this before; just because Obama is unable to actualize his world view doesn’t mean he doesn’t have ’em, it just means he a terrible marxist. In the same way that just because the Vikings struggle to actually LOOK like football team doesn’t mean we aren’t one!
Oh yeah, his grandparents moved from Kansas to Hawaii, didn’t they? Still, Hawaii is different from Minnesota which is different from Maine, which is much different from Alabama. So I’m not sure if we can discount a state as being ‘outside’ of what one thinks of America. Is America the soybean fields of southwestern Minnesota, the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, the night life in downtown San Francisco, the lobstermen of the Maine coast, the suburban white collar upper middle class of the Connecticut suburbs of New York, the retirement village in Palm Springs, the ranchers on the Texas plains or the hispanic communities of the Southwest? Are hispanics who grew up in a Spanish speaking community in New Mexico less “real” American than either of us?
By their fruits ye shall know them. Obama has to be judged by what he says and what he does; there is nothing even remotely Marxist about him. He is very establishment, he’s an insider Democrat. He’s a principled and moral version of Bill Clinton. At some point one can’t say “well he says and does X but really wants Y.”
I do think that there is a segment of the population who takes what you describe and has a view that President Obama is “strange” because he has a different background. Some find that threatening, I find that a quality that draws me to him. Especially in an era of globalization, it’s good to have someone who has a broader vision, I think. For instance, look at Mitt Romney’s upbringing. He was, like George W. Bush shielded from a lot of what real Americans struggle with. Obama had to work hard to succeed and overcome obstacles – Romney’s life has been one of privilege. Or what about Gingrich? What about is apparent amorality and inflated sense of self?
I think background is important, but to me character really matters. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Clinton in 1992 for that reason, even though I thought he’d be better than Bush (who I also did not vote for).
Oh yeah, his grandparents moved from Kansas to Hawaii, didn’t they?
I’m not sure, I think they moved everywhere.
Still, Hawaii is different from Minnesota which is different from Maine, which is much different from Alabama.
I think that Hawaii is different from Minnesota in a much different way and manner than Minnesota is different from Alabama.
there is nothing even remotely Marxist about him.
We’ll see.
I do think that there is a segment of the population who takes what you describe and has a view that President Obama is “strange” because he has a different background.
I totally agree. I think that a segment of this population look at a man raised in a foreign nation and schooled in an Islamic school in a different manner than they look at a man raised in Alabama, or Maine or Minnesota.