President Obama made a public appearance at a civic engagement forum in Chicago today. Watching him and listening to his insightful commentary shows how much as a country we have degraded ourselves with the election of an undemocratically elected president.
President Obama’s appearance illustrates what we have lost
The ex-President said from earlier on as an idealistic person who thought he would change the world he knew he would be engaged. He recounted the story of how he became a community organizer. Obama lamented that as a community organizer he was not able to transform the communities as he had hoped.
The ex-President said that the community changed him more than he was able to change it. He said the community taught him that ordinary people working together could make a change. It showed him that people of all kinds and stripes share common values.
Obama said that the community laid out the path he took politically. He said the community was responsible for the themes that he carried from the state legislature to the Senate, and on to the presidency.
“On the back end now of my presidency, now that it’s completed, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job?” President Barack Obama said at a youth civic engagement forum at the University of Chicago.
It is clear what the ex-President intends to do.
“The single most important thing I can do,” Obama said. “Is to help in any way I can to prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world. Because the one thing that I am absolutely convinced of is that yes we confront a whole range of challenges, from economic inequality and lack of opportunity, to a criminal justice system that too often is skewed in ways that are unproductive, to climate change to issues related to violence. All those problems are serious. They’re daunting. But the are not insoluble.”
The ex-President went on to say that it is our civics and politics that is preventing us from solving these issues. He said gerrymandering have allowed different parties to stay in their own silos. This prevents us from finding common ground. He also blamed money in politics and a selection of media that allow folks to listen to people who agree with them to create their own reality instead of a common reality.
Obama said while his statement about Blue States and Red States was aspirational, he still believes that on a one on one level it is true. He said he remains optimistic. He then went on to engage the panel of youth at the conference.