The Obama Generation Takes the Helm
- Posted by: Jeffrey Sachs
- on December 10, 2008 at 4:03 pm
An introduction to GOOD’s State of the Planet 2009 issue by Jeffrey Sachs
Barack Obama will come to office in the midst of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression. This will be a difficult time, but it will also mark an opportunity for generational change, a new direction for the country after three decades of Me-First politics and neglect of every major challenge confronting us, nationally and globally. The Obama generation—the legions of young people who helped elect him—now must rise to the occasion.
The financial crisis is not only a cause of our national malaise, but also a symptom of the deeper wrong turn that America made decades ago, when Ronald Reagan declared that government had to get out of the way to restore the national economy. After a wild decade of high inflation and soaring energy prices in the 1970s, Reagan made government the enemy. From that point on, the name of the game was to cut taxes, shrink government, and allow the magic of the market to deliver the goods.
There was never much validity to Reagan’s viewpoint. The antigovernment view had no basis in fact—rather, it was a convenient way for the rich to say they had no responsibilities to the poor (especially if the poor were the fabled black welfare queens who Reagan invented in his fervid movie-land imagination). It also gave a green light to the greed and corner-cutting that laid the base for reckless financial deregulation and the wheeling and dealing that has now brought the economy to its knees.
But, most important, it undermined Americans’ sense of community, both as citizens within the United States and as citizens of the world. There were no longer shared goals, only individual attainment. The idea of a U.S. community disappeared, and heated red state–blue state divisions replaced it. The idea of a global community in search of solutions to disease, hunger, and poverty became a target of sneering rather than a call to action. We lost all sense of reverence for the future; environmental sustainability was mocked, and we’ve wasted 30 years now by not addressing the climate-change challenge that has been casting an ever-darkening shadow.
We will now enter a new era, in which practical problem solving will be key, and in which we will understand our problems not mainly as individuals, but as members of a generation confronted with unique challenges. I’m sure that in the coming years, the Obama generation will feel like the Kennedy generation of the 1960s, the one that JFK boldly addressed in his inaugural address when he said, “I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.”
The Obama generation confronts challenges different from the Cold War of the Kennedy era, and certainly different from the so-called war on terror of recent years. This generation’s over-arching challenge is sustainable development, the ability to live together peacefully, prosperously, and sustainably on a crowded planet of nearly 7 billion people (a number rising to perhaps 9 billion by mid-century). The challenge is global, not local. It requires a perspective of decades, not years. It is a shared task, not the efforts of individuals interested only in getting ahead of the pack and the rest be damned.
In the coming years, the Obama generation will feel like the Kennedy generation of the 1960s.
This generation has the online tools it has invented, which can help to meet the challenge. Social networking elected Barack Obama, raising the money, energy, and volunteers to succeed. Now social networking needs to reach out globally, to forge new alliances across countries, so that the world as a whole can fight poverty, can convert to a green economy, and can overcome
deep divisions born more from ignorance than from real differences.
At Columbia University, we are hosting a global classroom that brings together more than a dozen campuses around the world for a weekly online discussion. From New York to Beijing, with students in Sussex, England; Paris; Ibadan, Nigeria; Delhi, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and more, we engage in direct discussions on food production, energy systems, and global ethics that underscore the communality of our world’s challenges. Yet this is only the start of a new global politics and society. The coming years can multiply these efforts in unimaginable ways.
The U.S. recovery will come through increased social efforts—including spending on community infrastructure and green technologies—that will not only restore employment and hope, but will create a sustainable basis for future economic development. We will view taxes once again not as the greatest evil, the dreaded “socialism” so mockingly derided by John McCain, but as the price we pay for civilization, as explained last century by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. We’ll have little choice, with budget deficits pushing toward $1 trillion.
We will stop ignoring the fight against poverty elsewhere, in places like Afghanistan or the Horn and the Sahel in Africa, realizing that it’s the only way to bolster our security. Armies cannot subdue hungry people or stabilize poverty-stricken regions. Just ask the generals—not the neoconservative of the Bush era who sent the troops into harm’s way.
The global problems are larger than before, but our generation’s capacity to meet them is larger still.
But government will not be done the old way, as a simply top-down exercise. The greatest strengths are achieved when global goals are linked to local energies and national financing. The problem-solving of the future will involve government, community organizations, private businesses, scientists and engineers, and volunteers. Cities will have the chance, and the need, to reinvent themselves with more sustainable and healthy strategies and designs.
Rural areas can pick themselves up following the example of the Millennium Villages in Africa, which are breaking the poverty trap through community-based investments. National governments will pick up part of the bill, but much of the creativity and work on the ground will be mobilized locally, in cities and rural communities.
The economy is frightening, to be sure, but the potential is also exhilarating. Let’s remember that we reached the new millennium with more powerful technologies, open-source creativity, and better networking than ever before. The global problems are larger than before, but our capacity to meet them is larger still. The election marks not just a change of government, but a change of direction. The era of sustainable development has arrived, and the Obama generation is ready for the challenge.
DISCUSSION: 20 Comments
totally with the politics in this piece. believing that a bigger government can fix the world’s problems (i.e. economic poverty, disease, hunger) shows great lack of understanding.
Read the End of Poverty, then talk.
I believe this recession is the best thing that could have happened to us as a country. I feel bad for those people who depended on industry to keep them fed, but hopefully each of us will be freed by these events and become something much better… independent.I encourage everybody to find something they are good at and start doing it… some corporations might fall in this recession… but America and its citizens will abide as always… good luck.
Many American Presidents have come to office with some very high expectations, but not all of them were able to deliver those promises. I hope President-elect Obama has a successful four years, but I am not counting my chickens before they hatch. There are a lot of issues for America to work through right now.
uh, i did read it.
i totally believe in alleviating the suffering of the world (i.e. extreme poverty, treatable illness, famine, etc) , but the idea that raising taxes will somehow “git’er done” IS very naive. Taking money from people will solve nothing, when a government program is highly ineffective (as most govt programs are). I believe charitable giving is more effective. Why line the pockets of Washington fatcats and lobbyists? If they want to help the poor so bad, then they can sell their BMWs and mansions on the hill.
where IS all of the money I give Uncle Sam ALREADY going to NOW?! And why does he need more?! Why does he need to take away the money that I would use towards charitable giving anyway, to spend it on some blimped out program I might not agree with in it’s practices which is ineffective in it’s programs b/c it’s run by some bureaucrat in Washington?!
no govt will be able to rid the planet much less their own countries of poverty or preventable diseases for they are corrupt the whole world is a stage and we are for now mere puppets
“We will stop ignoring the fight against poverty elsewhere, in places like Afghanistan or the Horn and the Sahel in Africa, realizing that it’s the only way to bolster our security. Armies cannot subdue hungry people or stabilize poverty-stricken regions. ”This is a great statement, which I don’t think people realize can help change countries around. People that can eat well can think and organize more effectively. And are less dependent on their repressive governments.
A 30-second practical solution in helping to eliminate extreme poverty:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQPLnXFE-4
“The challenge is global, not local”. I totally disagree. Where are we supposed to assume the initiative starts? Or is this guy under the impression that everyone is as concerned with socio-economic responsibility as he is? The majority of people in this country (much less places like Malaysia or Nigeria) aren’t even educated enough to be called apathetic. They just don’t know. Setting up discussion groups that connect a small minority of motivated individuals accomplishes nothing if those individuals aren’t part of a culture that is educated and inspired for change. This inspiration can only be brought about by example, and setting this example starts in your neighborhood. Not from some online classroom or government mandate. Someone’s been spending a little too much time at Columbia.
When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius The Age of Aquarius Aquarius! Aquarius! Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind’s true liberation Aquarius! Aquarius!
Anyone who has not heard of Jeffrey Sachs, now definitely has after reading this article. Masterfully and succinctly written, Dr. Sachs hits the macro, global issues right on the head. My favorite quotation is: “The greatest strengths are achieved when global goals are linked to local energies and national financing.” This unification of local and global is the future of where our country and world are heading.
I have no Idea who this guy is or what rose colored glasses he is looking through. Obama is gonna fix it all- right, is that before or after the scandal implications? How does a Jr. senator become president? Lots of favors and little say so over what happens next. The next phase is already beginning, isnt it funny that his opposition senators from within are now being appointed to staff positions that have to do what he says and his staff is now recommeding the replacements. Conspiracy? I think not- strategic- yes! We have all seen the beginning of the end of our freedoms. Globalization of economy’s will eliminate poverty? I dont get it or see how it will help? Why is it our problem to support the poor and uneducated of countries that desire to keep the poor and uneducated, poor and uneducated? Why do we support theological doctrine that favors uneducated people that are dependant on the theologians? Why do we support any government or people that oppress their own citizens? Why should america ever give in to social welfare? This is what Globalization brings is prosperity to otherwise non prosperous Governments. What comes after that? Common enconomy? common beliefs? common church? common education? I promise I will fight any and every effort that creates a global dependant economy or banking system. I have seen enough freedom go away, I wont give in to any more freedoms being taken away because america has to become what our neighbors are so the global economy can move forward. We are free because we fought for it, they want to be free so we can pay for it? NO WAY!!!! Freedom has a price and it costs way more than money to really stick. I for one dont want to be part of the Obamanation.Remeber this – We are who we are, because of where we have been. If we dont know where we were, how do we know where we are going?
bump! for more thoughts and ideas
“How does a Jr. senator become president?” – …Good question.
The most overlooked problem is that we have a two party system.We the people are let down time and time again.Our goverment is for the United states of America not the entire world population.The good news is that a man like Obama can be elected ,Gives me a little hope,seeing that the power is still in the hands of the people. Now let us go bail out gm/ford with tax payer money so the may continue to run thier bussiness into the ground.
Well, it’s important to note that the Kennedy generation, the baby-boomers, the love generation, the me-first generation, whatever moniker you want to give them, traded their hope and love for rising stock prices in their worshiping of trickle-down economics as they mocked those that kept the fire inside as “burned-out hippies”. For true progress to occur, this movement cannot be simply about Obama. Sustainability is the word of the generation.
I was really dissappointed with this article. I bought the magazine because I expected it to inform me on what is happening. Instead, I was treated to a bashing of Ronald Reagan and a very warped perspective. I suppose I am at fault for not doing my research, but this article did not convey ‘the State of the Planet’ but instead a very biased opinion.
Do something to help. There is so much unneeded fear mongering. Its so annoying and disheartening to hear such negativity when others are trying to actually encourage involvement. Things haven’t been good. Lets be real, and there is work to be done world wide….and active involvement in your neighborhood or in world communities are all good things. Its ok to be scared, acknowledge and then actively focus the energy on something positive. Come on guys, lets grow here.