Welcome President Barack Obama

I guess that I am an old man now. I have seen changes that were beyond my ken as a boy and a young man. The election and inauguration of Barack Obama came as a complete surprise to me. As a young man, I struggled against racism and war. I opposed the economic system we call capitalism because of its brutality, its ability to inflict pain and suffering without a rational reason. Folks around the world are getting a strong dose of this pain today as millions are laid-off and tens of thousands lose their homes. In recent years I have been overwhelmed by cynicism, in the realization that my dreams for a better America would likely never come to fruition, because the American people would never change their selfish, backward ways.
But one thing has changed.

Moments ago, I was filled with emotion as Barack Obama was inaugurated and became the forty-fourth president of the United Sates of America. He has inspired millions here and around the world to be selfless and forward thinking. The new president also marks a huge step toward the ending of racism in the USA. This has been one of my life long goals. So I must say:
Welcome President Barack Obama. Thank you for rekindling hope and optimism in the likes of me. May you successfully guide the American people to fully embrace its ideals of peace, freedom and justice for all!

If you had told me even ten years ago that we would have a black president in ten years, I would have said that it was impossible. Perhaps, in twenty years, when my children's generation took power. Maybe, then. Well, it only took ten years, not twenty or thirty. It took the worst president in a hundred years to lay the foundation for the change. But still it came. He is twelve years older than my daughter. He graduated from high school in the late 1970's. When my kids were in high school, I knew that racial prejudice was clearly waning. The color line was disappearing. I could see it in the interrelations of my children and their friends. I knew that it was more than the values that Betty and I passed along, because it was not just our kids that were changing. It was our children and their friends and their generation, free of the racial bias of previous generations who elected President Obama.

Race is not and has never been simply about the color of one's skin or who your parents were. It has been the justification for oppressing a large portion of the working class by providing privilege to the majority of workers. This system of black oppression and white privilege is what racism has been in the USA. The system fostered personal prejudice and bias, which were internal justifications for preserving a system from which every white person has benefited. In the last 50 years, in zigs and zags of two steps forward and one step back, the system has been eroded. Tendrils of this dying social relation will continue to do harm. Let us hope that President Obama will be able to finally lay racism to rest in the ash heap of history.

I have said it before, but I must say it again: The one other thing that President Obama can do for the American people is to reform our medical delivery system.
This task will be extremely difficult. The capitalists who control existing medical delivery system have much to lose. They are extremely powerful. I have heard that Americans spend more each year on health care than the gross domestic product of China. Think about the power of so much money. It will be incredibly difficult to bring about fundamental change. My guess is that the health care industry in the USA will find a way to maximize their profits. But we must fundamentally alter how we get health care in the USA. Recently I recommended that Americans watch the Frontline program Sick Around the World - Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health care system? If you have not seen it, please click on the link to the left. It is well worth seeing. If you want to get a flavor, as to what kind of system we are likely to end up with, listen to presentation that Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, gave earlier this month to the Commonwealth Club of California. Just push play button on the gadget to the right to hear A Prescription for Health Care. Dr. Emanuel is the brother of Rahm Emanuel, the Chief-of-Staff for President Obama. The system he advocates is similar to the Swiss system – which is probably the best we can do in the USA. It would be too much, I guess, to hope for a system like the French or English have. Obama says that everyone has to take responsibility for such changes. I hope that you take his words to heart. Otherwise, we are likely to end up with only superficial changes. Pressure your congressmen to push this reform to the forefront.

Again:
Welcome President Barack Obama.
Good Luck in Leading the American People to a Brighter Future!