[BBB#8] A Promised Land by Barack Obama

"You think you may not be ready, that you'll do it at a more convenient time. But you don't choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you're willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by." - Barack Obama

This is the first of two volumes of Barack Obama's memoirs, covering his time leading up to and during the first half of his presidency. Barack Obama is a fine writer who is able to capture intricate details in delectable prose. His memoir centres around the political rather than the personal, with each chapter generally being dedicated to a particular issue which he and his administration faced in his time as the President of the United States. It can be incredibly difficult to process the current political climate in the United States given its rapidly evolving nature. This book offers a respite, as Barack Obama contemplates on his experience and explains his perspective in a well thought out narrative.

As I'm reading this book, I'm contemplating how decisions are made. Barack Obama illustrates time and again how decision making at the national scope can be extremely challenging. Even for issues which individual Democrats or Republicans are likely to agree on, it's often not as straightforward to strike up a bipartisan agreement as one might think, given how the act of supporting a bill from the other party may be interpreted as going against the party whip and any individual who chooses to do so risks losing their seat. It's also a reflection on how polarized our societies has become, and how partisan affiliation and political expedience can blind us. Another learning point when it comes to decision making is the importance of timing, such as in the example of the decision to make progress in the consumer protection front following the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008.

Following the election of Donald Trump in 2016, the United States has arguably lost its influence as the leader of the free world. Yet the rise in populism is not confined to the United States alone. This, coupled with the attitudes of various other countries such as China, prompts the question: To what extent are we responsible for helping others beyond our defined social circle or for our common interests? In contrast to the United States which has taken up the leadership roles on issues such as climate and the Greece debt crisis, other countries have adopted the a more passive stance, at times even opposing measures which benefit the global good but may threaten the interests of their people. I don't have any answers to this question.

But where I did find some clarity in was in Barack Obama's description of the role of trust in democracy. He explains that to maintain the social contract where members of a society understood the advantages of offering a fair chance to everyone and building a floor beneath where nobody could sink, we need trust. It requires us to see ourselves as bound together, each member worthy of concern and able to make claims on the whole. It requires us to believe that whatever actions the government might take to help those in need were available to you and people like you; that nobody was gaming the system and that the misfortunes or stumbles or circumstances that caused others to suffer were ones to which you at some point in your life might fall prey.

If we trusted in each other, and in our government, would we be more willing to extend a helping hand? To think of others beyond our immediate social circle, to care for others as much as we care for one's own? I wonder.

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