CHANGE REPEATED

By R.J. Godlewski
© October 11, 2008, All Rights Reserved

    He stood in front of the adoring masses, marveling over the spectacle of so much support. He enjoyed how they viewed his message of change and they in turn enjoyed his promises to lead them out of the financial abyss of corruption. Both wallowed within the chaos of the near-collapse of the banking industry and all had suffered from the decline of their currency. He drew power from such support; it was what propelled this unknown onto the national political stage.

    He was, after all, a newcomer; someone who was not held in servitude to the “old ways�?that plagued his nation for years. It was a constant call for “out with the old, in with the new�?and the masses fell for it. They suffered. All had experienced the demerits of rising unemployment, the rapid decline of housing opportunities, and their relative inexperience in handling a new globalized economy.

    He waved his hands over them with acknowledgment. He felt their sorrows; experienced their pains. He had been there. He had suffered through one of the most brutal urban environments and rose up to contend for national leadership against the “old guy�?who represented the old order of military, nationalism, and faith in conservatism. He knew that this past was wrong; it destroyed everything great about his nation. He would lead them anew. He would provide jobs for his fellow citizens. He would ensure that the broadening gap between the classes would close.

    However, the local economy was not his sole claim to fame. He would correct the problems associated with the war. Too many of his fellow compatriots died for the invasion of another country. And for what? For imperialism? To fatten those already fattened from excess? It was wrong. He would rebuild his country. He would bring jobs home and employ everyone. He would provide them with healthcare, an education, and the hope for a better tomorrow. Most of all, however, he would emerge as a well-respected and admired leader of the world. All nations would love him; just ask the multitude waving towards him during his recent trip to Berlin.

    These words could very well describe Senator Barack Obama in 2008, but they do not. I wrote these words about Adolf Hitler in his run towards leading his nation. They were not based upon biased contemporary histories but drew upon the work Der Fuehrer by a contemporary of Hitler’s, Konrad Heiden, and published in 1944.  What makes this book so invaluable to me is that it was written when the ‘Hitler Question�?had not been fully answered yet. Surely, he was still in power and the Allies had not even invaded Europe at that time.

    We, today, tend to be too far removed from the implications of solitary individuals. We’ve drifted away from adherence to Christianity, for example, because Christ walked amongst us thousands of years ago and we are, quite frankly, too “enlightened�?to consider the implications of God coming down for a visit. We are six decades removed from a period in which our entire nation was committed to fight against absolute evil; a period in which gasoline and bread was rationed and military service was not a service but a requirement. We no longer seem to understand that a mortgage is a twenty or thirty year commitment and that we may be required to endure extreme sacrifices in order to keep our word with our lender. We have become an extremely shallow nation.

    The primary difference between our nation today and that of the Germans during the 1930s is that they actually had things bad. Their country was in shambles and could not defend itself against a flea. We, in contrast, still drive gas-guzzling SUVs, buy tickets to football games, and shell out a few hours�?wages to take our kids to see some movie where couples have sex in cars. Our perspective is shattered. Our intentions misaligned. Our attitudes spoiled.

    Barack Obama’s campaign, here in Michigan at least, is running a twenty-four-hour infomercial on Dish Network preaching his call for “Change�? I say that with some levity for there seems to be very little information coming out from his campaign. Perhaps I should just call it a commercial for he annoys me as much as that guy with the dark beard, Billy Mays I think his name is, who promises that OxyClean can do wonders for me. It might, but it is still not worth the cost in order to try. Neither is Barack Obama.

    What is to “change�?about America anyway? Is it that we have a better than average chance of succeeding in our dreams? Or is it because people who want without the effort still complain that they are “left out�?of the rewards for struggling? Is it that any American, irrespective of whether they possess health insurance or not, can still walk into any emergency room in the country and have their injury tended to? Or perhaps we need to change because somewhere somehow we have to pay for being injured and, well, happiness is saddling someone else with our misfortunes. Listen, I do not have health insurance myself. Not at the moment, leastways. If I get an ingrown toenail, I simply walk into the bathroom with my trusty knife and pliers and, well, let’s just say that it saves me a $30 co-pay. That‘s not the issue, however. The issue is that I expect to pay for my own healthcare. I know, perhaps better than most people, that a major illness can run up a million dollar tag in a matter of months if insurance is lost through, as one example, layoff. I just prefer to deal with the crisis. It hurts, yes, especially when you lose the love of your life but Sara would probably have died earlier if we could not get into a doctor for the wait associated with nationalized healthcare.

    Barack Obama’s call for change is the same as Adolf Hitler’s, but his predecessor had the fortune to call for change when change was all that existed. America still has a viable government; one run overwhelmingly by liberal Democrats, but a viable government nevertheless. America is still safe with the knowledge that its citizens still have a Constitutional guarantee of self-preservation. Americans can still travel from “sea to shining sea�?without showing their “papers�?to every community peace officer we come across. In America, I can find the freedom to change my career as many times as I want without prior approval from our leaders. In America, I can write, for the whole world to see, that I personally believe that Islam, for example, is a sham, its leaders opportunist crybabies, and should any U.S. politician decry my stance I can equally call them asinine bastards who do not deserve to be wasting my precious oxygen supply. That is America today. So what does Obama want to “change�?and why? God forbid that we should ever find out.