[Oe List ...] Of Hope and Ambition

[R Williams]

I read with great interest the Nader article and the many others that have come across through this network.  As responsible people we rightfully put much stock in our leaders and struggle mightily within ourselves to decide for whom to cast our votes.  Meanwhile, there echoes in my head a statement made some years ago by Peter Block when he said, as I remember it, "We ordinary people have abdicated our responsibility for our organizations and communities to the leaders.  Now it's time we ask them to sit down while we stand up."
   
  In light of this, one of the most important qualities I'm looking for in the candidate I choose to support is the ability to inspire  "we ordinary people" to reclaim our "abdicated responsibility."
   
  In today's New York Times there are two op-ed articles that give me some insight.  One is by Caroline Kennedy entitled "A President Like My Father," and the other by Nicholas Kristof called "The Age of Ambition."  Kennedy suggests that, whereas we would like "to base our voting decision on policy differences...the candidates' goals are similar."  Therefore, "qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual."
   
  In endorsing Obama, Kennedy, expressing that he is the first to inspire the American people the way her father did, says, "I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it...who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved."
   
  In the other article Kristof writes, "With the American presidential campaign in full swing, the obvious way to change the world might seem to be through politics.  But growing numbers of young people are leaping into the fray and doing the job themselves...  Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways." He gives several examples of this, and then concludes, "So as we follow the presidential campaign, let's not forget that the winner isn't the only one who will shape the world.  Only one person can become president of the United States, but there's no limit to the number of social entrepreneurs who can make this planet a better place."

  I think Kristof is right.  Whether Caroline Kennedy is right, that Obama is the one most likely to inspire that kind of commitment and engagement among our people, remains to be seen.  I do know that inspiring and equipping that kind of commitment and engagement is what this august group has been about for decades.  As we continue, it would be great to have national and world leaders who support us in that effort.
   
  Randy
   
   

       
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