Posted by
Sean Engmann on Thursday, October 02, 2008 4:21:57 AM
As a young person, I am amazed at the virtually unanimous support for Barack Obama in this election. The fact that the support exists is one thing, most people who I went to college with supported Kerry in 2004, and there was support for Gore in 2000, but the level of interest and support is different for Obama. Many people my age who have never cared or been into politics before have gone hook, line and sinker for Obama, and on the surface it's hard to understand why. More people are interested in the debates, and many of these same people have taken to ripping apart Governor Palin. I coach high school baseball, one of my former players is now working for Obama, a co-worker who couldn't have cared less about politics in 2004 is constantly sending me links showing Palin's gaffes and was eager to see the debate last Friday. Recently,
a video came out, showing school kids almost brainwashed singing about Obama changing the world. Kinda reminded me of when I was in 3rd grade and a substitute teacher made us write to President Bush opposing the 1st Gulf War.
The hard thing to believe is what got us to this point, how could a guy who's the most liberal guy ever to run for President on a major ticket gain such support. There are several reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is because of branding, Obama has used his logo extremely effectively to present an image and give him instant recognizability. The logo is extremely complex and represents a serene image of a rising sun over a plowed field. When I first saw it, I was struck by how similar the imagery was to communist images, and how it seemed to placate people. There are portraits made of Obama that are similar to those made by communist leaders as well, with messages of "hope" and "change."
These images work particularly well with the youth of this country because of the state of the educational system. Ronald Reagan warned in his farewell address about the failure to re-institutionalize patriotism in our schools, and his fears are being realized by the Obama campaign. Additionally, traditional American values, such as competition and individualism have been systematically phased out of schools, resulting in a much softer youth. Young people now favor internationalism and collectivism, and scorn our ancestors for our misdeeds such as the treatment of Indians and blacks, rather than recognize the fact that they created the best system of government in the history of man. More and more, the military is being scorned by schools, as evidenced by San Francisco kicking the JROTC out of schools, and by colleges like Columbia that refuse to have JROTC programs on campus, yet invites Ahmedinijad to speak. My generation looks on America's past negatively, and has been taught to value equality of outcomes over equality of opportunity. Obama's logo in essense represents adopting the values of Western Europe, values that the youth of this country are ready to accept. More than anything, the sun rising over the field represents an image of the workers rising up, and it does nothing to speak to capitalistic or individualistic values.
America is a great country, founded on rugged individualism and freedom. It is still the only place where anyone with a good idea and hard work can make it. Class mobility here is a reality. We need to reinstill these values in our schools rather than focusing on the negative, and Obama's campaign, and his success with young people, ironically, is the culmination of all of the negativity about America that exists in our schools.