2009 Inauguration
One year ago today, I woke up in Montevideo, a new life, a new world and a time filled with unexpected surprises in store for me. I had no idea of what lay ahead of me, only that the immediate future was mine to decide, where I went, what I did and with whom I did it.
Today, the whole world has woken up to new life, a new world and a time filled with unexpected (but hopefully) pleasant surprises, as a man we hope is capable, has taken the helm of the most powerful nation on planet Earth.
The American people have given Obama the ultimate vote of confidence, and I hope that he can steer the US onto a better course than his predecessor, and maybe regain some respect for his nation, which has been utterly disgraced over the last 8 years.
From my economy lessons I have learned that all past decisions and costs are known as sunk costs. That means that they are irrelevant, and knowing what’s irrelevant and what isn’t, is hugely important to make the right decisions for the future.
When Obama makes decisions about Iraq, any reasoning about the invasion, and the casualties are irrelevant, what matters are the future and future costs, and what the return is on staying in Iraq. I personally believe that we should have stayed (Denmark), and so should all other nations, until the task was done. It can be compared to tearing down a shoddy house, and then abandoning the project, instead of taking the time to building a new house. The old building might have been terrible, but it provided some shelter and some stability. What has happened now is that everything goes with the wind; there is no control, no system, just havoc.
With the current focus on rebuilding the economy, my fear is that the environment will be given less attention, as it has never thus far, been given the attention it deserves, but less certainly isn’t better; the environment and education is what matters most, with health coming in shortly after. But in America those 3 sectors are famously neglected (education in America is so expensive, as the government doesn’t do much about it), but here’s the new angle, Obama has promised to do something about all 3.
I fear that the glamour around Obama will fade quickly, he made a lot of election promises and he won’t be able to keep them; a lot was said, but how much will be done?
I believe change will come, but it will come slower than we feared, and it won’t be as significant as we hoped for. Obama didn’t get as large a victory as he had hoped (which would be carrying 30 states), meaning that he has to bargain with the republicans, as the democrats alone can’t do whatever they please, despite having a majority in the senate (apparently it takes 60% to close a discussion, instead the republicans can just keep it open for eternity).
But the expectations the world have are extreme, save the environment, stop war, create peace (no war, doesn’t mean peace) and do something about the pandas while he is at it.
I suspect his presidency will be about highlighting the difference from the Bush administration, and his legacy will be his skin colour, and not his politics, of course I also hope that I will be proven wrong, that he will rise to the occasion and show the world that the US still knows how to save the day, the world and the environment.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 20:35. It is filed under Thoughts and tagged with bush obama corruption iraq afghanistan inauguration political politics democrat republican.
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