Hail Obama

I am searching for something wise to say after Obama won the Presidency, something that goes beyond the euphoria …the sounds that I hear sound awfully like a gobbledegook translation of Hail! Hitler, except that we like this one. I really have to admit that I am absolutely shell shocked that America turned out to be not so bad after all. Obama’s election kind of takes the steam out of America haters around the world. Good job, CIA. I just thought I’d tip my wine glass to you, because you rarely get the credit you deserve, lots of blame but very little credit.

Hail, Obama, you are a symbol of egalitarian equality…blah blah (duh, that is the right of every creature on the planet, but, things have been so bad that we are euphoric that you who belong to the wretched Blacks and Muslims and Democrats and Single parents and Immigrants at the same time persevered in the face of daunting odds). You kept dreaming while the rest of us woke up way too soon. I was sad to see Hilary Clinton and that other guy who ran for President four years ago look so unsure of their ground, yet you stood your ground, regardless of what anybody did.

I must say though, that I hope you don’t give up the fight now. Far too many idealistic men have fallen in the embrace of Madame Power. There is something about this creature that makes people switch allegiance the moment they spend a little time with her.

People in Pakistan and India wonder what you will bring to them. Instead of wasting the space of 1000 words to say the same thing, I’ll keep it simple. Are you going to bring more bombs to Pakistan, more money to India? or will you continue the Bush legacy, Bombs and Money to Pakistan and Money and Business to India?

In Pakistan, people are simple, they see things in Black and White, a lot like USA used to. For them, the enemy is the guy who bombs them, not the guy who tells them to keep a beard, cover their women, pray and fight for their land. When push comes to shove they trust the second guy, not the first one. I hope you can appreciate the reason. It’s a gut reaction that the former President of the USA was very good at creating. I remember a moment in time, when Mr Bush said you are either with us or against us. Since that time, people in Pakistan have been torn between you and themselves. Before that they didn’t really know what the darn difference was other than that people are smarter and richer in USA.

Today the common person, that guy without even one year of formal education is pushed in a corner and from that corner he can only see violence getting worse every day. Surely the Americans, those with knowledge and education can figure out what is happening in Pakistan. Surely the biggest defense budget in the world should be worth some peace. Surely you, who are a veritable crossroads (Chowk) yourself, black, white, Muslim, Kenyan, Indonesian, American and under 50, you can see further than others have been able to from where you are.

Logical people say that it is Pakistan’s problem that it is a mess and that every staggering step it takes towards independence and self-reliance is shot and bombed both metaphorically and literally. Yes, I agree it is Pakistan’s problem. If you agree than take away the arms, the weapons, the bombs, the jet fighters and the nuclear weapons that were sold to this nation and its neighbors.

It’s quite simple, really. Cut down the weapons and people don’t have the option of bombing each other. Yet, weapon production is something armies are created to do. They like to spend tax payers’ money on making more and more weapons against bad guys and they generate more funds through selling them to other countries and their armies. If the army is powerful, that country like Pakistan buys a lot of weapons. Then they find someone to use them against. Soon enough, everybody starts to use them just because they get angry about something or the other—about not having enough education, power, status and respect or maybe their Dad beat them when they were little. Perhaps my explanation is very Kindergarten like. As the long dead bard Ghalib said (no, not Shakepeare, us of color have ancestral heritages that we are sometimes proud of), ‘the world is a children’s playground, where every day a new scene is enacted.’ Let’s see what Act 11 post 9/11 brings to the world.

Cutting down weapon production is a lot like the chicken and egg problem. The question is who will do it first? Certainly America hasn’t wanted to cut down weapon production despite the disastrous condition of many of its people who have no access to healthcare or good jobs. However, there are diminishing returns to any policy over time and the policy of aggression has failed dismally in the last 8 years. With a sea change in world economics, where, despite the unequal exchange rates, those who work are gaining capital, it is time to rethink many things, e.g., the true colors of the colors black, brown, yellow and white in different lights or that it is wrong that Mr. Wong makes Christmas decorations in China he gets 20cents, but if Mr. Wong makes them in a Western country they cost $2.0. First of all, do we really like the color white quite so much in these different lights? And second, why do we need so many Christmas decorations and must we once again buy the same darn rubbish for yet another Christmas?

Dear Obama, I wish you a good pinch of luck. In case you didn’t know this, millions of brown, yellow, white, pink and black people are counting on you to create a more just and equitable world with less violence and oppression. So, you aren’t really just America’s President, which you are, but there is a good bit of the rest of the world in you, and therefore they are hoping that you will stand up for them.
It remains to be seen if you will honor the Others in you and stand firm in the face of the values that enslaved your ancestors and were enslaving America for the last 8 years.

In other words, Obama, white isn’t necessarily the best light in the spectrum. There are many shades that are equally bright and beautiful. I hope that you don’t forget that we all shine differently and not one human is superior to the other, except by his deeds that set him apart from others.