History made, Hope signaled

5th November 2008 is a watershed day in American history. The American electorate in a resounding voice has spoken. In one lifetime it is extremely difficult to pin point historical moments and be fortunate in time to view it first hand. This is one such time an epoch making event has happened. The 44th President of the USA is a person of African -American Origins, and at 47 years is also one of the youngest to hold the highest office in that country.

Cynics may argue, what’s so historical about a country which is pompous in its preaching to the world the wonders of the democratic process, while others have already stolen their lead in electing women or people representing the minority community to represent them. Countries, like Israel, India,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even Pakistan have elected women to the highest office before the US. This was to be neither Hilary's time nor Sara Palin's to claim their places in American history.

Why is this moment Historical? The US in particular is going thru one of its worst economic crisis, they are fighting three active wars, and the problems need addressing now. Being the dominant economy of the world, its slump would create a world wide recession of proportions that would be many times worse than what was seen in 1929 for the US. In 1929 it did not impact the rest of the world as much because it was largely de-coupled from the US and Britannia still ruled the waves then. Apart from factors economic, there is also a world wide leadership crisis. There is a distinct paucity in dynamic leaders of nations. Those who give a nation the confidence to surge over problems and grow ahead.

George Bush in his two terms has achieved the deepest nadir of being the worst President to occupy office. When I see the rest of the representative world leaders they don’t inspire much confidence either , Take the French President Nicolas Sarkozy; we see and read more about Carla Bruni, The German chancellor Angela Merkel: She is no Helmut Kohl, The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi is an entertainment billionaire who is known for his gaffes though not of Bushian proportions, the Indian PM is by far the best pick though he too is struggles with a coalition support that limit his actions severely. The morale in such situations sinks low and somewhere even if things earlier were not bad, energy that inspires it goes missing. And when things turn bad, like they have now, these guys are the worst to be at the helm of affairs, because by their own constraints of staying in power they can’t do much.

Now we have here riding into the white house a dark knight, the contrast is so amazingly refreshing it is the harbinger of hope. His is a majority that is absolute in popular as well as electoral college votes. With this mandate I saw proud Americans savoring their own slice of history, some had tears running down their cheeks. These are defining emotional moments, the man on the street is hopeful and they have put their man in charge to change things. Hope has come to America and subsequently it shall impact the world.

If action is more concrete than thought or hope, why then is hope so important?

Hope is energy personified. It’s a flame that once lit charges up people to move mountains. It is this perception which has so much power that it can change adverse reality. Positive thought, hard work, some sacrifice is the need of the hour today to take us out of this mess. This is the moment of truth which this election result signaled; the nationwide acceptance of the immigrant and his youth to lead them. A chance has been provided to effect the change, and this Change has begun...