State of the Union

January 29, 2014

State of the Union: A Commentary

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

In President Obama’s State of the Union Address, he touches upon a variety of issues critical to the future of the United States of America. The cornerstones of Obama’s administration were all mentioned, including lengthy periods of space dedicated to discussing pressing issues such as economic growth, technology, unemployment, energy, immigration, healthcare, and equality.

However, underlying every issue discussed was a central message from President Obama. This message was simple. The citizens of the United States need to come together collectively, as an American people, in order to achieve a successful future. The volatile arguments between the various political powers in the United States have to stop, or at least subside to a point where at least some progress can be made. To put it bluntly; America must become unified again.

This in my opinion is a fair and fascinating argument. In class, we’ve been studying the very beginnings of this nation. The foundational building blocks of the United States of America. At this point in our studies, the United States has yet to form into a cohesive nation. We’re reminded that the land where we now live was founded, colonized, and made inhabitable by a variety of different nations that we are no longer affiliated with. And yet, somewhere between the beginnings of this nation, and where we find ourselves now, an American identity was formed. A variety of people with different backgrounds managed to come together to forge this nation through a great deal of bloodshed, sweat, and toil. I feel as if we sometimes take this fact for granted.

Obama is also quick to point out that “those at the top have never done better.” Moreover, he states that “inequality has deepened,” and that “upward mobility has stalled.” In light of our recent studies, I found Obama’s statements particularly meaningful. The initial colonizers came to North American for a variety of different reasons, mainly religious and economic ones. The ability to climb the social latter in England and other parts of Europe had stalled, and people came to the New World looking to improve their fortunes. Thus this nation was at least partially founded on the basis that through hard work and dedication, one could improve their social standing in life. However, in recent times, it appears as if this notion is fading. Poverty has risen at alarming rates, and as Obama mentioned, the ability for Americans to improve their lot in life has increasingly become more difficult. I find it somewhat startling to see that this nation is possibly regressing once again in regards to social mobility.

Overall, I found Obama’s speech extremely compelling. The historical parallels that could be drawn to our lessons in class were extremely interesting, and helped deepen my understanding and appreciation for many of Obama’s arguments.

January 29, 2014

State of the Union Address

President Obama’s Address to the country last night began with stories of hard working Americans who represent the country as a whole. Especially during the beginning of his speech, and also throughout, the President used pathos to make himself appeal to the average citizen. The way in which he chose stories of empowerment and success when describing the new Health Care, military support, and education reforms shows similarities to when the English colonists were attempting to persuade their fellow English to join them in the New World by exaggerating the truth and only describing the good of the colony, and not the bad.

The main point of Obama’s speech was to express his concern for the unemployed and to create more jobs. In England during the colonization period, there were plenty of people to work but not enough jobs, and in the colonies, there was plenty of work but not enough people to fill all of the jobs. Unemployed English moved to the New World upon the promises of jobs and prosperity. It seems as though the country has now come full circle, since corporations move overseas and put many out of work. The unemployment state could be compared to that of England during the colonization period, yet the jobs have now started to come back from overseas.

Obama also made the push in his speech for immigration reform. Immigrants founded this country; in school it seems that students are taught that Europeans solely shaped the United States. Yet from reading Inhuman Bondage, one would see that in fact African immigrants played just as large of a part in shaping the country, although brought against their will in the form of slavery.

In all, this country has come far from what it was in the colonization days in a short amount of time. The United States is a young country, but recognized as the worlds dominate power. The issues that Obama described and promised to fix in his speech were all hot issues now, but many stemmed or were similar to issues that had been around since the days of colonization.

January 29, 2014

Old Traditions and New Progress: The State of the Union

The State of the Union Address given by President Obama last night had a surprising number of correlations with our current lessons. The President talked at length about current inequality and the lack of upward mobility that we see in the job market and in social classes. We recently discussed in class, and Yuxi pointed out in her post “The Necessary Evil,” how slavery and its economic benefits created a system of inequality that benefited producers and extractive economies. She continues this conversation and extends it to show that this system of separation and oppression supported the prosperity of the country and the potential of the “American Dream.” That dream has changed with industrialization, urbanization, and development of new and more equal economies. We also discussed how classes were intentionally separated for social or economic purposes, and this separation is still entrenched in us today. Mobility is much more difficult than many Americans would like to believe. However, I find that the issue is not that class or race that separates us, but that education levels separate us. This is proven by the fact that today we have a well-educated African American as our president. Education has shaped America over the years, and has allowed for not only more economically sound markets, but ones with higher values. It is our hope that this positive trend continues with some of the extensions of education programs and trade programs that Obama has asked. They should help improve this mobility and erase the last true inequality gaps between races, regions, and genders. Obama touched on a few issues concerning “labor insourcing,” increasing the minimum wage, and expanding trade programs so that people do not have to live in poverty. I certainly agree with the fact that the higher levels of human capital that exist in the United States have created an incentive for investment. We discussed how slaves with special skills were often sought after and were worth more for plantations that needed more educated labor. This principle holds true today. During the time of slavery the Americas were a land of investment because of our natural resources and factor endowments including vast lands. Today industry is turning back to us because we not only have the physical resources, but also the human ones necessary to make change.

I think that it is too early to consider raising the minimum wage, however. Encouraging investment often requires the premise of potential profit. If we raise the rate before investment takes place, I believe we will see fewer jobs added and more cut as labor becomes too expensive. Slavery existed for the reason of eliminating a major cost. If we desire for more jobs to be created, and for each employee to work for more hours, we must let the economy develop before introducing a new expense. I hold the view that bringing more people to employment is going to help our economy grow and average wages will increase as competition and innovation continue. Along with the additional expenses that the Affordable Care Act has brought to businesses, the addition of other costs for labor would cause more problems with unemployment, and result in more underemployment. An almost $3 per hour increase in wages would render full-time labor often too expensive. We also do not want to see this cause unnecessary inflation levels either. Producers will not be ignorant of the increase in income, and may seek to raise their prices if they understand that consumers can afford them. This could cause a general price spike, weakening the purchasing power of the dollar and perhaps harming rather than helping workers.

Whether or not we like to admit it, much social change is stimulated by economics. Bolstering the middle class and opening opportunities to mobility are attractive for moral reasons, and there are ways that we can make them attractive economically as well. We will encourage investment, both domestic and foreign, by showing our relatively high human capital in conjunction with economic sense. We have seen, as the President mentioned, 8 million new jobs created in the past year. We would all like to see this trend continue. I believe that encouraging employment of more people full-time will stimulate the economy and produce a more productive, innovative, and mobile middle class. Poverty is today’s slavery. It holds us back from fulfilling our potential. We all would like to end it across the world, and each believe in different paths to that success. I will be interested to see if these programs take effect and if they will succeed.

January 29, 2014

POTUS and the Rhetoric of Colonization

A few key quotes struck me as I was watching the State of the Union Address yesterday, and they mainly fell into the first opening minutes of his speech as President Obama seemed to employ the rhetoric of the idyllic American Colonization. It is often the same wording utilized when recounting the typical American dream, but is undoubtedly similar to the romanticized notions of the Plymouth colonies. The President first states that the similarity and bonding power of this nation is in the “simple, profound belief in opportunity for all, the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America.” The idea of responsibility, hard work, diligence and even to an extent, patience, is the way to prosperity. If “get ahead” in the President’s statement was changed to “finding the Lord” or “be rewarded by God,” it would almost sound identical to a Puritan Philosophy during colonization. They took pride in hard work, diligence, and had faith that these facets of their lives would ultimately come with reward. This is all mirrored today by Economic Growth and the strengthening of the “working middle class,” as Kurt had mentioned in his previous post on the President’s address.

Americans want to think that today, and Obama, despite admitting the flawed nature of this dream, is attempting to rally behind that same, rhetorical cornerstone to incite unity in our nation. When asking for Congress’ action, he implores for congress to “give these hardworking, responsible Americans that chance.” It is the government’s responsibility to ensure to the best of their ability that these ideals remain true.

On a similar note, the President mentions expansion four times in his address, growth another five, and brings up the notion that “But America does not stand still, and neither will I.” When I heard this in the context of our classes so far, it does illicit this emotion of boundlessness for the United States. It feels as if the rhetorical tools used here liken that of a modern Manifest Destiny, of hope of new eras, new opportunities, and new uninhabited land (obviously a false assumption) with the first settlers in what would become the United States. Americans still want to have these stories told to them. We still want to believe that if we work hard, are diligent and are unremitting in our efforts, we have this boundless horizon with which to conquer, much like the early settlers in our nation. These are the tenants that the President hoped would bind us together as we listened to his address, the rhetoric of colonization and of a unending and unyielding possibility, even if they come from a heavily romanticized recounting of the past.

January 29, 2014

Seeing a black president stand in front of a room of (mostly) white, grey-haired men was more powerful than ever after reading Inhuman Bondage this week on a history of the enslavement of Africans in the New World. Although Obama is no descendent of slaves (his father was born in Africa), the historical treatment of Africans and blacks in the US is unfathomable when paired next to our first Africa American president. In Obama’s lifetime, MLK was shot, and despite this, he now is delivering the state of the union. Obama is a symbol of the American dream that he kept referencing; the belief in opportunity for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, etc., and an ability of upward mobility regardless of where or to whom you were born.

While there are still too many class and racial differences in opportunities in society today, as shown by Obama’s focus on “young men of color” and on women, the country has come far within the 200+ years of its existence.

I found it interesting that Obama focused on the “broken immigration system”. As the son of an immigrant himself, he failed to mentioned that this country was built and founded by immigrants. As we saw through the Inhuman Bonding reading, much of what made this country become so successful was its huge importation of immigrants. Additionally, contrasting this to our readings on the essentially mass genocide of Indians — the only non-immigrants — it is interesting to see how problems with the “other” has always been a problem in America, even if the perspectives has changed.

In addition to this, our readings have all shown the economic and financial drive that colonizing countries had in the New World. I found it interesting that Obama backed almost all statements he made by the economic gains America can or has achieved, and how many of his proposals will add to the economy or not “add a dime to the deficit”. It was also interesting to hear that in the first time in a long time, manufacturers are considering moving production back to the US from China; America is now a place to invest. This is similar to the colonizing countries, who also saw the New World as a place to invest. This will also help boost and strengthen the middle class, another point Obama emphasized. The history of this country that we’ve learned in class so far is almost all low- to middle-class families migrating to America in order to obtain and work the land outside of being a tenant on a duke’s land. Many American ideals rely on a robust middle class to keep the country functioning and keep the country self-reliant.

Obama ended his State address by committing to the constitutional ideals. “America has never come easy”, he stated. All the readings and lectures for class so far has proved this, from malaria and other diseases, to failed colonies, starvation, cold winters, enslavement, and more. It should be fun to fill in the gap from where we are in class to where we are today (or at least up until 1877).