Experience in life has a way of “curbing your enthusiasm” and instilling pragmatism. When we lack experience we often can have a distorted view of reality, we can have unrealistic expectations. When we look at marriage in America which has a 50% divorce rate what is evident is that the blissful utopia that one thought marriage would be when they said “I do” is not reality. This brings us to our bright President who in 4 years has seemed to mirror marriage in America, the rapturous dating stage, the extravagant nuptials, the amazing honeymoon phase and then REALITY sinks in. The “expectations” do not mirror the day to day reality. When I think back to what we were sold during President Obama’s campaign run back in 2008, it reminded me of a Babyface tune entitled “Soon as I Get Home”:
I give good love
I'll buy your clothes
I'll cook your dinner too
Soon as I get home from work
I'll pay your rent
Your faithful lover
Soon as I get home, soon as I get home from work
Girl, I'll treat you right
And I'll never lie
For all that it's worth
I give good love (good love, good love, good love, good love)
Is this NOT what we got from President Obama? I mean Babyface promised all this stuff that sounds GREAT, who would NOT want somebody to do all this BUT for real who can do all this? We didn’t ask Babyface “how is he going to do all this as soon as he gets home”, we didn't consider the realism of it BUT we yet clamor to expect it.
Utopian (noun) -
4. An inhabitant of Utopia.
5. An ardent but impractical political or social reformer; visionary; idealist.
How can you be concerned with Healthcare when you don’t have a JOB? It sounds good Healthcare for everybody, ok BUT we did not ask for that. It was not our priority but it was the "ideal" of our partner in "Change". How many times in a relationship has a man tried to give things to his woman that she did not ask for and failed miserably? Finding Osama Bin Laden and bringing down Gaddafi are things that nobody asked for, it is the "hello honey surprise", that gets *blank stares*. Folks on mainstreet were looking for relief from “bad loans” that are causing foreclosures, not crossing names off America's Most Wanted list. What good is passing legislation to get folks to eat healthy when some folks are not able to eat at all? Why try and make our schools resemble South Korea where children go to regular school and then to Hagwon (cram schools) after school that end at 10pm, causing children to get 6 hours a sleep a night, when our schools don’t have enough resources? Sadly the critics of this President said he sorely lacked experience and it looks that way, it seems he has no sense of reality outside of the Utopian bubble he has grown up in. The “its easy I did it”, I came from nothing to Senator and 2 years later from senator I am in the White House, "YES WE CAN", we can do it too attitude. This type of rapid success can set a bad precedent, kind of like a couple who for their first vacation go to Hawaii versus someone who has been married 20 years who finally go. Who do you think will appreciate that trip more? Who will understand that these types of trips are not common place, who will take it for granted. Accelerated success can cause an absence of realism and produce utopian thinking like Lebron James proclaiming to win 7 championships when he had not even won one yet. As we continue through the President Obama Opus I am reminded of another tune by After 7 entitled “Ready or Not”:
I'll give you the sun
The Rain
The Moon
The Stars and The Mountains
I'll give you the world
And all that you wish for
And even more
When do we ask “How are you going to get to the moon to give it to me?”, “How will you grasp the sun without getting burned?” The oratory wizardry may be music to the ears but where is the substance to the style? How do we quantify what is being said, what is the realization of success? Until we push past nebulous campaign slogans like “Hope” and “change” and demand to see the details and fine print, we will be like most church goers. Where on Sunday we can hear a “good word” and feel good for the moment but when the “feeling” wears off we are back to feeling like we were before the organ started playing. I believe this President is sincere but his since of reality is strictly utopian. In a utopia we can tax the rich and create obstacles for Corporate America and STILL expect them to provide jobs and stimulate the economy. We can bailout the banks and trust them to pass the savings and goodwill on to the consumers in a utopia. We can expect the first African America president in history of a country with 400 years of slavery to just waltz in and get cooperation from the opposition party. I believe the impossibility of an African American president getting elected created unlimited possibilities YET many did not realize the construct of the American social-political system did not change. I don’t know if this President will listen to the people or not, or will he keep trying to project his audacity of hope into the atmosphere but sadly I think the last song in this set will be an oldie but a goodie. Will the President be singing The Temptations “It was Just my Imagination” as he leaves office realizing that the girl named "utopia" was just a figment of his imagination.
Just my imagination -- once again --
running away with me.
Tell you it was just my imagination
running away with me.
I never met her, but I can't forget her.
Just my imagination..
-- ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah --
running away with me
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