President Obama Calls on You to help Reaffirm our Future!"Embody the Spirit of Service. This Spirit must inhabit us all"
Millions of people the world over watched as Barack Obama took the oath of office today becoming President of the United States of America. With tears in our eyes we watched proudly as history was made and once again, the United States demonstrated for the world the peaceful transition of power, of leadership of the highest office of our land.
President Obama said he was Humbled by the tasks before us, Grateful for the opportunities afforded to us and Mindful of the people who lived and died for us to have these days, this freedom and these historic opportunities to reaffirm our future.
Progress has been made. Today, the Challenges are new, as are the instruments with which we will tackle them, but the values and skills with which we will overcome the challenges are old: Loyalty, Patriotism, Honesty, Truth and Responsibility.
He reinforced his confidence that Americans can shape an uncertain destiny. He spoke of a new era of responsibility and as we gladly seize this chance and give our ALL to a difficult task.
Let us begin the work of remaking America:
Extend Opportunity to every willing heart and find the surest routes to our common good.
His message to world leaders was powerful, saying "America is a friend of each nation and we are ready to lead. Security emanates from the justness of our cause". And his message to others, world leaders who are watching America " leaders will be judged on what you can build, not what you can destroy".
President Obama stands for the world to see a role model. He is the new president of the USA and he is a man who is demonstrating for fathers and husbands all over the world what a world leader, a loving husband and father looks like. These are the things I most admire about him, not just his words or his vision but his comprehension of the role that he is modeling for all the world to see. I pray that his leadership and inspiration remains strong and that millions of Americans join in his quest for peace and regeneration, for prosperity and hope.
Let us all be the changes we wish to see in this world.
Patty DeDominic January 20, 2009
6 comments:
This means we all have to pull our own weight and he is not going to solve every problem for us. It is a call to action, and a call to personal responsibility for digging us out of our economic challenges. He also said the job is up to all of us not just the government
Wonderful recap of the speech our new President gave this morning.
Gene Sinser
Beautiful - Couldn't have said it any better. I loved the line about "You will be judged on what you can build, not what you can destroy." That's a good mantra for all of us, not just world leaders, don't you think?
There is nothing more difficult ... than to take the lead in the introduction of
a new order of things.
— Niccolo Machiavelli
An Inaugural Address:
Advice for Change in Business and Society
Today, a new government will be sworn into office under our new President: President Barack Obama. We all face many social and economic challenges in the upcoming year, but many Americans are eagerly awaiting some promised changes. But there is always resistance. As Machiavelli said, "If you want to be hated, try changing people."
People by and large want change as long as it does not inconvenience their value system or interests. But that is exactly what we need to do: change our values and peoples' interests.
One benefit of old age is that you feel less fear for what people think of you and feel more courageous, because with the "final solution" around the corner at any time, what is there more to fear? So? Let us do it.
To understand the new paradigm that America needs, one should know the methodology Dr. Don Beck presents in his book Spiral Dynamics.
What is the new paradigm that America needs?
We need to move, on the spiral dynamic curve, to the yellow-turquoise color value system. In essence, we need to migrate from a value system where more is better to one in which better is more. (I am talking only about the United States here.)
Today the most powerful cultural institutions are the business companies, and "Business" prioritizes profits. The more earnings per share, the better; The bigger the company the better, etc.
Granted, for a single company, more is better. But in aggregate, when the total business subsystem behaves that way without regard for its effects, it destroys the world we live in. The value system 'more is better' is creating enormous waste. Just look at the choices consumers are given in everything: Our standard of living is going up, while our quality of life is going down. We have too many cars, or it takes too much time and gas to drive anywhere; or we consume too many calories, hence the increasing rates of obesity and diabetes. More is not making us happier. I hear more laughter in developing countries in a single day than in a whole year in developed countries.
Regardless of your politics, I hope that your spirits were lifted by a sense of tremendous possibility ahead as the U.S. inaugurated President Barack Obama. I am struck by the corner that I believe the United States has clearly turned in our evolution toward achieving the full potential of our increasingly diverse nation.
In the wake of the election of the first African American U.S. president, I can't help but ask: And what about women? Where are we on our evolution from becoming not just achievers but leaders, playing major roles in shaping our nation and the world?
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