Phil Mirzoev's blog

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Obama's change

Obama promised change and he'll be judged by his young constituency and by history according to the success in bringing the change. And the first and foremost change that inspired millions of young progressive-thinking Americans in Obama's campaign speeches is the promised CHANGE OF THE SYSTEM - change in the ways of the White House. Change in the ways America works, change in all what the US's become ossified and stagnant. There's no need for change without stagnation, and there's a stagnation - psychological stagnation, and, what is more, a moral stagnation (see http://dr-world.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-extra-about-moral-political-crisis.html).
But even for such a progressive 'modern' man, as Obama, it will be very difficult to change the US, because for this HE MUST OPENLY AND PUBLICLY RECOGNIZE those terrible mistakes and even crimes that the US, while working in its 'old ways' have accumulated for decades of very often unprincipled external policy. You cannot bring a real change without a proper public 'historic repentance'. But the existing system is such that it is very difficult to pull off this act of historic penance and purification.
Obama will be judged by the way he treats Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and how he perceives the very alarm bell of the phenomenon of the leakages. He will be judged by his ability to bring, not restrain the democracy development in the Middle East and his nerve to refrain from the habitual policy of supporting and stabilizing the 'friendly dictatorial regimes' in the Arab World. He will be judged by choice between true democratic values of America and so called 'strategic interests'. He will be judged by his ability to eliminate the neolithic demagogy dogmas like 'democratic capitalism' in the US and stop allowing democracy to be a hostage of 'capitalism' - 'We the people of the United States...', not the Capitalist class, not the Corporations and Banks etc of the United States. He will be judged by his choice between the true DEMOcracy of the American nation and the existing CORPOROcracy distributing the real power of control over the state according to class ladder. He will be judged, accordingly, by his ability to change the education situation in the US and give the same opportunities and incentives in terms of education to poor Americans as have always been at the disposal of the rich and their sons and daughters, and to put through the health reform. He will be judged by his ability to decouple the scientific research from the military orders - demilitarize the science and technology. He'll be judged by his ability to change the size and role of the American army - demilitarize the US.
Other particular items I would very like to see on his agenda:
1) Once and for all openly to put an end to this absolutely obsolete and unjustified type of relationship with Israel - giving it absolute impunity and not letting it to account for its action like any other sovereign country before international community for it's actions. This unconditional friendship policy for the last several decades cost Israeli people, American people and the rest of the world thousands up on thousands of lives (directly and indirectly) and billions upon billions of dollars (in direct and indirect economic losses and expenditures). The human cost is can hardly be estimated.
Yes the US must remain friends with Israel but this relationship must be an adult one
2) He, as a man with the 21th century mentality, must understand that the antiquated privilege of 'absolute state secrecy' must be abolished, and there must new mechanisms in place to control the actions of Government on the external fronts. No absolute secrecy any more! There must always be some commissions from the Congress let in on those secrets and who may or may not give the approval to classify or disclose some or other bit of info. No presumption of trust given to the Government any more, on the contrary: it's Government who must PROVE beyond reasonable doubts that something must be classified. Obama promised in his election campaign to change the ways of the White House. Let him do! Not only the well-being of the most powerful nation-state is at stake and dependent on the renovating the mechanisms of democratic control over the executive power, but also the well-being of the rest of the world and the political achievements of Obama himself. Yes it's difficult to reform a dinosaur but no other way out here. Responsibility of the top leaders of the US must too be reviewed fundamentally. Now for a President of US or Secretary of state or Minister of Defense to get a jail sentence for their feats is something absolutely unheard of, but in the real up-to-date democracy that must change. Any top leader in the US being sworn in must remember that the US prison system exists no only for street gangsters or alimony evaders, and that there's no guarantied criminal impunity for him after he is retired. The mechanism of investigation, the understanding of the responsibility of the statesmen and the mechanisms of checking thereof have to be seriously reformed too.
3) Very smart and long-awaited move what with starting a real relationship with India, but Obama also must take a very hard stance towards China, which continue to subsidize its exports and unfairly gain advantages in trade by using its undemocratic structure. China in essence directly regulates the size of average salary cos they don't have the independent unions or justice system. The also limit the volume of foreign investments. They are not a free market economy, BUT want to use all the advantages of one in its economic dealings with the rest of the world. The US must understand that it (as well as the rest of the democratic free market world) is being f...d by Chinese growth, not helped, cos this growth is achieved in large measure not because of competitive advantages but because of political advantages: a hybrid between slavery and capitalism. Stop giving China new technologies or relatively new technologies in exchange for the relatively primitive consumer products they give in exchange. You give them technology and help develop the economy, they give you the cheap cups and clothes that don't help you develop your economy - that is the point. In the age of colonization European conquerors very often traded indigenous peoples some cheap glass trifles for real gold and diamonds. The same thing is going now between China and the Western world. They give cheap trifles and in return get for example mobile phones and telecommunication technology which completely changes the face and the real possibility of The Chinese economy as well as its political regime. STOP unfair trading with China! And it's not a question of manipulating of currency - it's stupid to accuse China of currency ,manipulation (it's their sovereign right to regulate its currency rate), they manipulate its labor and the foreign investments. It's too their right but they in this case must no be dealt on an equal footing like any other democratic free market economy cos they are not. The West itself willingly allows China to f...k itself. Shame.
4) Oil. Yeeeesss. Of course nobody can believe that Obama is able to resolve this problem completely during his term, BUT he can change the direction of the US policy on this issue for ever. Once and for all the US must declare that it's future economic development is not compatible with oil-based energy sector. As in the case of anti-tobacco campaign with the slogans like 'Smoking leads to cancer and death', any member of the the US society must get the message 'Burning oil leads to economic death', and only from this perceptive should all further judgments about the effectiveness of the US policy on the energy sector be made. US and oil-burning have different ways

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