Yes, We Can...But Does Obama Want to Change the System?

Millions of people all over the world rejoiced during Barak Obama's inauguration as the new President of the USA. Following the havoc wreaked on a local and on an international level by the Bush administration, many were hoping that Obama would represent something different...something much better.

As the first African-American President and as an individual who was not bred in the surroundings of the White House, there seems to be a popular belief that Obama is not "one of them"; he is not perceived as one of the ultra-rich US politicians who cares mainly about the fostering of big business. This belief was also strengthened during his electoral campaign with several messages that were aimed at minority group members and millions of US citizens who are facing increasing financial woes. With every week that went by prior to the election, we kept hearing the message "Yes, We Can!" Change was said to be in the air.

Now that Obama is in the White House, what changes can we expect? Domestically, it is hoped that he will be able to introduce more regulation as far as the financial arena is concerned and that he will be able to reverse a great deal of the damage that was done during the Bush years. Internationally, it is hoped that Obama represents the type of man who will build bridges with other countries and who will, as far as a situation allows, use brains rather than brawn.

Although I strongly believe that Obama will be a much better president than George W. Bush, I think that he has one major flaw; he is not willing to carry out any radical changes to the economic system that is associated with the alienation and the exploitation of the typical worker in the US. Deep down, Obama is a capitalist. And as long as he embraces capitalism, the US will never witness the day when every citizen can enjoy free health care, free education, free housing, guaranteed employment...Competition, rather than co-operation, will remain at the forefront of daily life and this will only serve to create a great deal of social unrest.

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