Farewell to Obama

During any transition of power, a governed population can be expected to be fearful.

On Inauguration Day, 44th President of the United States Barack Obama handed over power to non-politician billionaire Donald Trump.

Eight years ago, The United States was in the depths of an economic recession and a costly and unpopular war in the Middle East. A young African-American senator from Illinois rose through the ranks of the democrats and ran on a campaign of “hope” and “change” and won the presidency. For the first time in this nation’s history, young African-American boys and girls saw themselves represented in the highest seats of government.

Obama’s more popular policies will cast him in a favorable light, and history will look back on him fondly. It can certainly be said that some of the policies enacted by the Obama Administration did improve our nation. Obama’s economic stimulus package helped end the 2008 recession, and Obamacare made health insurance affordable for millions of people across the nation.

By the end of Dec. 2016, Obama had added 17.2 million jobs, and comes in second to Bill Clinton, who created 21.5 million jobs by the end of his term. Compare this to the 2.1 million jobs created under George W. Bush’s eight years in office. Obama’s elimination of Osama Bin-Laden and his withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan has helped cement his legacy as a strong and capable leader.

The New York Times ran an op-ed titled “Missing Barack Obama Already”, and many other news outlets are publishing similar articles. It is apparent on social media  that many people across the nation are already lamenting the end of Obama’s presidency and there is fear that the more progressive ideals the nation has been striving for will be threatened under a Trump presidency.

While Obama may have guided the nation some steps in the right direction in the last eight years, it is difficult to ignore his more nefarious actions.

He was touted as an anti-war candidate for calling the U.S. invasion of Iraq a “mistake” and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for nuclear non-proliferation; perhaps Obama’s approval of modernizing our nuclear program in 2016 could make the prize seem uncharacteristic.

Obama’s drone campaign has been said to violate international law, and according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 2,753 people have been killed by drone strikes from 2009 to 2015. TBIJ also reports a rough estimate of about 300 to 800 civilians killed by drone strikes, and U.S. citizens have been killed by drone strikes because they were deemed as a future threat to  the United States.

Obama’s recent public condemnation of Israel and threats of sanctions may seem like a tough stance against the nation, but his deal to give $38 billion to Israel doesn’t do much to comfort those concerned about Palestine. His support for the Trans Pacific Partnership free-trade deals are reminiscent of trade deals such as NAFTA that pave the way for rich nations to cut out competition from poor foreign nations.

There is no doubt that Obama and his family did try to represent our nation with class, grace and dignity, and they are polar to the incoming first family.

Strong anti-Obama sentiments have been permeating the nation for the past eight years, and racial tension has come to the forefront of the national consciousness. Donald Trump ran on a campaign of racism, xenophobia and fear, and won. He is filling his cabinet with unqualified billionaires and republicans are already taking the steps to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Despite the many faults of President Obama and his administration, there was a feeling of stability and progress with him at the helm of our nation.

The world is facing problems that have not been seen in the history of humankind. There is more wealth in the hands of eight individuals, than in the hands of half of the earth’s population. We are on the brink of environmental catastrophe and must be concerned about the rising tide of populism in the U.S. and Europe.

We, as young people, must take up the mantle to try and preserve progressive ideals and policies that Obama has strived for, and that the far right is working to dismantle.  It is more important now than ever before that the left organizes and works to protect human rights and democracy.

Barack Obama left the nation in better shape than when he first took office, and while we hope that  President Trump really will do a good job as president and make the country great for all people, it will be up to us to drive that change.