It would be instructive for Caribbean leaders to pay attention to the farewell address by US President, Barack Obama. On the night of January 10, Obama could have been speaking to citizens and the leadership in Guyana, or Trinidad and Tobago; or the rest of the Caribbean, along with the United States, and to other democratic countries in the world. Note the key word he used, “Citizen”.
Saying “our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted”, Obama called on all Americans to throw themselves “into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions”.
He added: “When voting rates are some of the lowest among advanced democracies, we should make it easier, not harder, to vote. When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes.”
He added significantly: “And all of this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings.
“Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own.
“We, the people, give it power – with our participation, and the choices we make. Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law. America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.”
Perhaps Obama was thinking of the incoming President-elect, Donald Trump, when he said America’s democracy was threatened. Even as the transition continues, troubling questions are being raised about the drift of America’s position in the Middle East; too, there is the Trump administration’s support of expanded Israeli settlements; add to this an ambivalent stance on NATO. Then there is Trump’s growing warmth towards a dictatorial Kremlin, and his statements regarding the possibility of renewing the arms race.
To add even more anxiety to what Obama is describing as a democracy under threat, we note the stark contrast between his farewell speech on January 10 with Trump’s first press conference the next day. Where Obama celebrated citizenship, Trump proclaimed megalomania, saying, “Nobody has ever had crowds like Trump has had. You know that. You don’t like to report that, but that’s okay.” While Obama put the emphasis on the importance of being a citizen, Trump crowed about how impressed he was with himself.
The night before, Obama declared, “Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll prioritise different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other, making common ground and compromise impossible.”
Then the next day, Trump shot down the democratic right by the people to know when he told a CNN reporter asking a question: “You’re fake news. Sit down and be quiet. You’re not getting a question.”
While Obama’s farewell address contained much more in its variety of messages, what came out of it that is relevant to our Caribbean homelands was the credit he paid to citizenship, and the need by citizens to continue the process of building. His message took nation-building to its source, its purpose being in the hands of citizens, and so rose above the grating partisanship so evident in the incoming US government.
Obama’s message exalted him as a leader. Such a message is instructive for us as citizens, and it is our hope Obama’s words resonate among leaders in our homelands.