Homo Viator

Obama launched the first TV ads of this campaign phase. Why does he have this urge to be the first at everything? In most analysts' points of view it has been a disadvantage to have entered the presidential race so early. People get tired of politicians fast. If Al Gore decides to join the race late, he will be the fresh face and may ultimately have the best hand. I still don´t know what to think of Obama. I like his eloquence and attempt to restore and strengthen principle values that have given way to the needs of the modern man. I watched a couple of long speeches by him on CNN Pipeline and was impressed by his personal and touchy style that somehow does not seem affected but genuine.

But it takes a Kennedy to really implant and reinvigorate moral values among such a diverse population. For those of you who have never watched Kennedy´s inauguration speech, I think it is about time. For the ones who have seen it, just sit back, relax and enjoy those meaningful words over and over again. If you listen closely you will be surprised to find some similarities among his vision and the objectives of the current administration. I am clearly not a Bush friend and his decision to rage war against Iraq, spurred my interest in geo-politics and led me to demonstrate for the first time in my life. But one needs to analyze his steps in the historical context of the US foreign policy. Long before Kennedy the USA had implemented doctrines that aimed at spreading democracy throughout the world. Bush´s wish to democratize the Middle East is not a recently defined objective, but rather fits into the overall historic context of America´s foreign policy.

Similar to Bush's resistance to give a time line as to when the War on Terror could be won, Kennedy also saw the Communist threat to the freedom of the democratized World as one that the USA would have to root out over many years. Kennedy defined visionary goals that could not have an immediate, measurable end: "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

My favourite part of the speech however is when he highlights the devotion of Young America to change the status quo. When I hear those words I mentally leave my desk, beam myself to the times of my young parents and while sensing the special energy of change that lay in the air I wish that I could have lived then. The 60s must have been extraordinary times, full of ideological progression and excitement. Nowadays societal behavior heavily adapts to technological developments. The internet is the primary driving force of change these days. Since the advent of Web 2.0 we can say that the internet is US, you and me, so it is US who alter society´s way of living. This fascinating medium has tied the world together, we are all just a few clicks away and everyone is invited to take part in shaping the future. That truly is a positive development!

But modern change does not get to the core of our value system. In the 60s on the other hand, the likes of Kennedy, Martin Luther Kind and Bob Dylan managed to alter the society's value system, igniting a fire of change that was fueled by new, liberating ideological thoughts and the necessary lack of intellectual complacency. If Kennedy was still alive I would ask him whether he would stick to his words when he said that he would not like to change with any other generation and I would tell him that I possibly would have liked to change with his generation. Life of the baby boomer turned out to be quite alright. =)

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."

Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (Part 1)



Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (Part 2)