C H A N G E
Will Our Generation Play a Role?
(01/23/2009) By Benjamin Starr

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And so it happened... At 12:05 p.m. on January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama took the Oath of Office of President of the United States of America. The jubilations of the Inauguration are over. The pomp and circumstances filled with parades, luncheons, speeches and galas has now come to a close and with the first dawns early light the time has arrived for our new President to address this proud nation’s many, ongoing challenges.

This President is my President. The first of what are sure to be a procession of presidents who will (to the best of their varying abilities) represent my generation of Americans. This, my friends, is our time. Our first time to show to our parents and grandparents that they have prepared us well for this time. This is our time to show the world that we are ready; that Gen-Y has what it takes. It is to this end that I sit by the glow of my laptop screen exhausted, filled with hope and fear. It is to this end that I hear these words attempting to escape my head. As the bloggers blog, the writers write...

Dear Mr. President,

First and foremost, congratulations. Though I must admit you weren’t my first choice to become President (truth be told, at the beginning, you weren’t even in my top ten), as the ceaseless election coverage progressed, you impressed me. Not only did you impress me, but you impressed upon me. You impressed upon me virtues and ethics that have lain long dormant in my being; honesty, pride and service.

Let’s face the facts. Government has never represented for me and most of my generation honesty and service to fellow man. It was not included in the indoctrination of those of us raised in the 1980’s and 1990’s to trust men in suits. It was not on the agenda for those of us who watched the trial of Oliver North nor the attempted impeachment of President Clinton to forgive those that have tarnished their good names. No Pearl Jam nor Jay-Z gained the love and adoration of the American youth speaking of the good name of this Senator or of that Chief Justice.

Mr. President, you have the ability to change all of this.

Change ... It’s a funny word. I heard it thrown about all election season. “We will change the world.” “Change you can believe in.” What will change?
It’s funny that you used the word “we” more often then not. In a culture that celebrates the accomplishments of the individual over the betterment of the team. Others have used it in the past, but you sir, have a passion for the word. We ...

“...and beyond you will see how the ever changing glow / it surrounds all the feelings you never thought you’d know / come along now it’s not too far away ... “ - “The Majestic Song” by The Tea Party

Mr. President, now “the most powerful man in the free world,” you hold in your hands the fragile hopes and half shattered dreams of a people who are ready, willing, and able to work for you; who are willing to be inspired, not just by your words and your story, but by your example. The near destitute spirit of a people who now look to you to fix it all. And yet you chose the word, “we”.
I offer this, Sir: This “we” is ready. This “we” is willing to do the work. This “we” is prepared to look to the hardships and potential pitfalls of prosperity and smile at the challenges knowing that at the end of the day we can be proud of our generation. We can be proud to be citizens of this great country.

So many try to claim you as their own, “the first African American President,” the first this or that ... You have given yourself to represent us all. In your words, Mr. President, “...Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.” But now, Sir, the time for rhetoric has past. But now, Sir, the time of promise meets the time for action. But now, Sir, history begins; let it treat us as it may, but let us too meet the challenges it sets before us, and they are many. War in Israel. War in Iraq. War in Afghanistan. Ideological war at home. Economic crisis that casts a shadow over the potential prosperity of our generation. Danger, both global and local presents itself in even the most mundane of decisions. The Earth itself looks to remind us of our insignificance and yet we persist to defy its warnings. Some say it is the end of times, Sir. Let us show them the best of humanity has yet to come.

Others have come before with a bag of promises. Others, Mr. President, have offered hollow words and empty promises. Others before you have raised our collective hopes as the Stars and Stripes only to toss them to the ground and stomp them into the lethargy and self-centeredness that has labelled us as a “do nothing” generation. Let us not falter into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let us aspire to the greatness of our grandparents who pulled together to stop the spread of tyranny in Europe. Let us bind with the greatness of our parents who saw injustices in Southeast Asia and said with a primal scream,”No more!” Let us not befallen to the seeming glories of the moment, but work toward the unfaltering appreciation of history’s unfailing glare. Help guide our Nation through the near impossible decisions that we now face, both of our own doing and as victim’s of circumstance.
Sir, we look forward to your service. With open minds, with unwavering (although often fickle) hearts, we await your lead. In the words of Jabari Asim, you offer us “an opportunity to choose our own history.” An opportunity, historically, offered to each generation of Americans but once. You offer us the opportunity to be remembered as a people who came to unity and collective greatness, or a people who allowed division and selfishness to destroy all that has been worked for by our forefathers. We find ourselves under your leadership at a crossroads in American history; at a crossroads in global history.

When I heard your Inaugural Address, I heard echoes of greatness. I heard words spoken by members of my generation, “...I know that I should think about givin’ / think about helping out / think about livin’ / but I can’t seem to rescue myself...” - “Mirror Song” by Live

Here you are, a President, not for me, not for you, but for us. Here you are, a man who seeks greatness, not for himself, but for us; we need only to be willing to put forth the work necessary to attain the results. I offer to you, Sir, that we are ready. I offer to you, Sir, that we have been ready. We wait only to see inspiration in those that lead. We look only to the inspiration of someone that we can respect as one of our own.

“We the People” have waited so long for someone to come along and produce change that we seem to have forgotten that we are the change; that we, not the politicians, control the fate of this country; that we, not the media, form the opinions reflective of those that lead; that we, not our critics and enemies, have the power to defend our beliefs, implement our laws, and live our lives for the betterment of “We the People.” For far too long we have produced no action, save apology and regret. For far too long have the opinions of the few been represented as those of “We the People.” For far too long have we been complacent with a list of excuses forgiving our unwillingness to be involved in opposition or support of actions proposed to the world community as the collective will of “We the People.”

“We the People” need to act. “We the People” are still within our rights to place demands of our Representatives. It is not by the comings and goings of this man and that woman by which America was born. It is not through the singular direction of any one person that the fate of this country was shaped or will be shaped. No man alone has won or stopped a war, but it is through collective effort and sacrifice that this Nation was forged and through the same will this country lead and prosper once more. This is the hope that we draw from you, Mr. President. These are our unfair and unforgiving expectations.

We cannot promise that we will always agree. We cannot promise even to always be fair. We can promise these things no more than you can promise that your Administration will not repeat the mistakes of the past. To make such pacts would be fool-hardy and set us from this day forward on a path of inevitable failure, as no human is infallible.

But again, to you, Mr. President, I and so many others offer our collective hands. To you we offer expectation but not without the promise that this time, without excuse, we will do our part; that this time, we will not pull the football away; that this time we will carry our part of the burden and help carry the burden of our neighbors and strangers alike, as past generations have done; that we will behave, not as Democrats and Republicans, as Conservatives and Liberals, as Left and Right, but as We the People of These United States of America.