GREAT ELECTION -- STAYING POSITIVE -- AN EXCHANGE

GREAT ELECTION -- STAYING POSITIVE – AN EXCHANGE

James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.
© November 7, 2008

“Positive views of truth and duty are those that impress the mind and lead to action; negation dwells mostly in cavil and denial.”

Richard Whately (1787 – 1863), Archbishop of Dublin

A WRITER WRITES:

Thanks, Jim, for sharing your thoughts and those of your friends regarding this election, etc.

Although we are in such trouble at this time, it is a breath of fresh air to be able to read something that is not filled with hate and malice towards another human being, and filled with positive thoughts and hope during these difficult times.

A great percentage of our people are hurting and those that aren't right at this moment are filled with fear of what is to come, how much longer they will have income and a home; the older generation who are retired worried about how long their retirement checks will keep coming, etc.

We sure don't need to read things so negative and hateful from others. We all need to keep positive and know that our courage is going to help us make this right if only we will be positive and not let fear take hold.

Not sure if I have made myself clear, but just wanted you to know that your thoughts and those of your friends are a positive influence and I have felt fortunate to be included in those thoughts.

A

DR. FISHER RESPONDS:

Dear A,

Being positive has a certain amount of gullibility to it, and that is the danger. It happens when we believe too much in the wisdom of our ways, and the precision of our thoughts. If this were the case, we are vulnerable to the falseness of flatterers. Our worst enemy, then, especially when we are in leadership positions, is in our own self-love. I say that only as preamble to what follows.

We are, indeed, tired of the negative that seems so endemic to every presidential campaign although each time the candidates promise otherwise. Your take on fear is also true. Those knowledgeable of the workings of Wall Street and the banking industry tell us the current recession is as much a matter of fear or lack of confidence and trust as it is of the concrete indices of financial collapse.

It is at such times a leader must rise above the white noise and speak with such confidence and authority that he garners our attention, as president Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in 1933 when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The president's speech didn't stop "The Great Depression," but it got the attention of the fear mongers.

My reason for voting for Barak Obama was because of the content of his character, the breath of his intelligence, his sense of history, and his narrative appreciation of a multi-cultural world, which will now surely be tested.

The 2008 presidential election was one in which ideology took a backseat, as it did in a much earlier age, as I will now outline.

I've been sharing missives on this election only because I have a feeling this is a transformational as well as transitional period, not only because we've elected our first African American president, but because the world must come to terms with the reality that war no longer is a viable option to resolving national and international conflicts, and one set of nations cannot profit at the expense of another set. We have reached the age, literally, of a global village.

This election will not impact our generation, or even our children's generation as much as it is likely to impact that of our children's children and theirs. I say this for reason.

A similar period was called "The Age of Jackson." This commenced with the election of General Andrew Jackson as President from 1829 – 1837, and continued through ten presidents including Martin Van Buren (1837 - 1841), William Henry Harrison (1841), John Tyler (1841 - 1845), James Knox Polk (1845 - 1849), Zachary Taylor (1849 - 1850), Millard Fillmore (1850 - 1853), Franklin Pierce (1853 - 1857), James Buchanan (1857 - 1861), Abraham Lincoln (1861 - 1865) and Andrew Johnson (1865 - 1869), who was impeached for his carpetbagger policies.

President Harrison died in office getting a cold on Inauguration Day; president Taylor died during his first year in office; president Lincoln was assassinated at the beginning of his second term.

Jackson avoided the Civil War on his watch by calling vice president John Calhoun's bluff with the South's proposition of the Nullification Act -- the South didn't want to pay the taxes to its cotton that the government demanded.

Jackson was totally self-educated, tough as nails, courageous as an Indian brave, not afraid of anything or anyone, taking on the banking establishment of the East, and going directly to the people over Congress.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams found him uncouth, but this self-made man out of the hills of Tennessee created an age, and gave birth to the imperial presidency, making the executive branch the strongest of the three: executive, legislative and judicial.

President Barak Obama steps into this new void, which although different from that of the "Age of Jackson,” offers a challenge and opportunity of similar gravitas.

One thing seems certain, as it was true of Jackson's presidency, and that is president-elect Barak Obama may define more than a presidency but may also give his name to an age.

The new president must have an instinct to govern and a decisiveness that takes no prisoners but manages matters of State that involve everyone at every level and of every interest, tipping the scale to the special interest or advantage of none.

This is not "the American Century," but calls for a partner with the world-at-large because the United States of America is no longer an isolated nation between two major protective bodies of water.

I'm not suggesting that president Obama should act like Jackson did, but Jackson laid the groundwork for the presidency of Lincoln, which Andrew Johnson derailed when he was assassinated.

The Jackson Age saw the United States expand "from sea to shining sea" by the work of a much neglected president Polk who broadened and widened the boundaries of these United States, consistent with the Jackson legacy.

What will be president Obama's legacy?

My prayer is that president Obama composes a narrative and policy to heal some old wounds, and to lay the groundwork for a plan that creates not only more healing but energizes the American people to be more aware and empathetic towards the rest of the world.

Be always well, and as always, it is good to hear from you,

Jim