Not Change, But Hope

As I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama this morning, again I realized following the course of the past two months of transition of presidency, that what America really wants, and what earned Obama his victory, is not the philosophical urge for "change" to it's core sense(setting aside the phenomenal win of an African American candidate, which is a change in itself), rather the message of "hope" which has always shored up the American dream.

During a hopeless time as this, when failures, quagmires and dismays all over became too difficult to ignore, what was really desirable and important for the majority was reinventing and rejuvenating the dream and life of prosperity which they have been so accustomed to "may be" and "if" required through change. Ofcourse there was also the emotion of black voters for Obama that added to the vote counts (though they were very much for the Clintons too), and the overwhelming "not Bush" sentiment, but it was largely that hope which Obama apparently brought to the table for them.

And the reflection of this was again found in the audience responses of today's speech. People who gathered in millions in D.C., were more cheerful about parts of Obama's speech, that had the hue and the tone of maintaining the way of life and ideology the nation has been so used to, for example phrases such as "ready to lead once more" or "we will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you". In contrast, the parts of the speech where he called upon for a more humble existence, and if read through lines a little carefully, a more fundamental change that was not just required but inevitable, such as " we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it", received a solemn nod (!!) or applause from a fringe crowd.

In the past 2 months, through new appointees of the new administration we have seen reflection of such expectations. Hope does not need to be accompanied by change to it's essence, rather it can be kept alive, and if possible materialized, through the most efficient operation of the instruments that may or may not bring about change. And that's what we have been witnessing. Is it Mr. Obama's somewhat overstreched bipartisan approach, the lack of courage for a very costly gamble for change at times like this, or a cautious step that might unfold into wonderful surprises in the future (!!), that remains to be seen. But surely a shake-up of policies and visions from the core is not what the nation (in majority) is yet prepared to embrace , and thus "change" still lies largely in the placards of slogans.