Obama-ism™

First and foremost, I'd like to claim patent on the term Obama-ism. But I know I'm not riding on the legal side of things. I just thought claiming it would give me rights, just like in the old age of exploration. Btw, the operational definition of this concept is simply 'anything related to Barack Obama.'

There are so many things I'd like to share with you all about Barack Obama - his story, charismatic personality, political orientation, economic actions, among many others. This is not to say that I am an Obama expert nor an omniscient. The knowledge I have about him is not that comprehensive. But I pride myself in having a good grasp about Oooobama. Probably this is a result of the readings I laboriously encountered for one of our seminar papers in my post-grad enterprise. In this paper, we are to mapped out the personality of this "Great Man." I maybe jumping the gun here, but yes, you read it right. Very unbecoming of a researcher who do not possess enough data to deduce such, I am jumping into conclusion that Obama will standout in history, he'll make history. Though, I'm maybe just exaggerating to make a point.

Great Man and Grand Design

I've learned from the discussion I had with one of my professors about the concept of the above terminologies. Grand design, based from what I understand, is the external forces/environment or the social milieu that shapes history or the individuals within it. On the other hand, Great Man, is the individual who possesses extra-ordinary trait that serves as the main catalyst of change or main force that makes history. A great man provides impetus for the grand design to move towards the path he wanted it to be. These two forces may work hand in hand but sometimes one may outweigh each other.

In this sense, the example of our hero, Jose Rizal came into consciousness. Some scholars have said, he is a hero because he was able to identify the existing societal problems during his period and tried to provide solutions to lessen or alleviate the problem, thus epitomizing the concept of a great man. However, others have argued that he was forced only by the social conditions of the period to behave that way, the Spanish abusive government and the social ills that plagued the country; or in simple terms, the Grand Design called for Rizal to be a hero. Given the two sides of the coin, my hypothesis would be: both concept, great man and grand design, worked hand in hand during that period. Only I'm not sure the quantity each gave. Who knows, right?

Parallel to the example of Rizal, is the example of Barack Obama. The question at hand is whether Barack Obama is indeed a great man or climbed up only to pedestal because of the grand design or the social condition of this modern times--financial woes, credit crunch, bancruptcy and foreclosures issue to identify some. Again, I say, he is a "great man" possessing extra-ordinary qualities. But I believe that grand design work for him favorably as well.

Arguably, Obama has this strong character that leads people to believe that he has in fact the ability to provide change. With his excellent oratory skills, combined with awesome intellectual achievements plus his being African-American created a thinking that he could really defy traditional American politics. Aside, he has this clear principle and firm desire to uplift America from the mess they are in. Then again, the social conditions have furthered his status as a great man. He became the first US African American black president. Apparently, this setup seems to be a good starting point on how the grand design helped Obama rose to superstardom. Maybe, if one is calling for change, he must possess a peculiar trait to what is considered traditional. What I'm saying is this, no black president has served in the White house. Only white presidents have been in the White house since time in memoriam. So, right now, maybe the situation calls for a new color. And here is Barack Obama waiting to claim his throne.

Ostensibly, the economic situation, financial crisis/ recession helped Obama to have marked deeply in history. There seems to be a pattern in history that when there is an economic problem, a democrat would take the limelight and would steal the show from the republicans. One concrete example I could identify was during the great depression. This was a point in history where a democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wisely managed the problem better than the previous republican administration. Hence, with this pattern in mind plus the tempting Obama's economic plans to address the root causes of the current difficulties proved the argument that Obama's status was incremented by the current socio-political millieu, or, the grand design.

Barack Obama is starting to reify this abstraction. He'll surely face negative comments from the cynics and strong opposition from the conservatives but as any great man would, I have a hunch that he'll get away with it.