Jonathan Todd

Labour Economist and Strategist

Be the change that you want to see in the world

20/01/2009 4 Comments

“Obama has the possibility”, argues Andrew Rawnsley, ”for reasons that go far beyond the pigmentation of his skin, to be one of the most significant American presidents. To assume that he must fail before he has even tried is to surrender to an utterly barren pessimism”, which is precisely what James Delingpole has done in The Spectator. On whose pages, evidently, “respite from Britain’s lazy political cynicism”, as demanded by Polly Toynbee, is impossible. It is, I suppose, all too predictable that The Spectator sneers as The Guardian cheers. But, perhaps, the more intelligent reaction comes from David Aaronovitch. “Before we all pile our own demands on the new president’s head perhaps our self-injunction should be, not to ask what Obama can do for us, but ask rather what we can do for Obama”. Be the change that you want to see in the world, as Gandhi and later Compass said. That is often easier said than done. But if we were all to try, then, maybe we might really get somewhere, even in the face of the biggest challenges.

4 Comments »

How ethical can East Dulwich be? « The Home of Toddism said:

[...] be maximised if citizens can make their communities, rather than simply their households, ethical. Be the change that you want to see, as Obama didn’t quite [...]

# 08/05/2009 at 11:00

I am a European … What does that mean? « The Home of Toddism said:

[...] not give him the help he came looking for on troops in Afghanistan and co-ordinated fiscal policy. Obama may have been the change that Europeans wanted to see in the world but European still ask what [...]

# 20/05/2009 at 07:20

How the middle classes can be the change on social mobility « The Home of Toddism said:

[...] classes, who are rightly concerned about social mobility, were all to do this then they would truly be the change that they want to see in the world. Leave a [...]

# 28/07/2009 at 13:42

Yes, we still can (but leadership and disciplined support are needed) « The Home of Toddism said:

[...] Indeed, all with a stake in the change that Obama seeks (i.e. everyone), should come to genuinely be the change that they want to see in the world. After the poetry of his victory, the prose of the presidency can seem a painful hangover, but [...]

# 29/12/2009 at 19:16

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