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OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT |
IN DEFENSE OF OBAMA # 1...Issue: EXPERIENCE (Ranjit Singh) |
NEW YORK
May 10,08
I hear people trying to underrate Senator Obama on a few fronts: One of those is the EXPERIENCE front.
They say that he has no experience and hence may not be able to lead the nation correctly.
Their argument runs like this : he is a first time Senator. He has not held any public office. He is untried and
untested.
His critics scare the voters that Senator Obama, when he becomes the President of the United States of
America, will not be able to provide proper leadership to the people. Some of them go to the extent of
predicting that he may not be even delectable.
The arguments are politically motivated and don’t stand in the face of historical facts. In this first part, I will
prove that the issue of EXPERIENCE does, in no way prevent Senator Obama to prove his abilities of
leadership, when he becomes the President.
In this connection, I would like to re-tell the story of Moses and “The Children of Israel” as my first
example. Once you read or hear this story, you will realize that “EXPERIENCE” is not the soul of leadership.
There is something else. But what is that? Here is the story.
When Moses emerged into the pages of history, Hebrew groups were suffering under the brutal repression
of the Egyptians. At the start of the New Kingdom in Egypt, the Egyptians had begun expelling the foreign
groups, they thought could be dangerous to them. Surprisingly, the Hebrew groups were not labeled as
dangerous. But the Egyptian kings began using them as cheap labor or even free labor to garrison their
towns and cities to protect themselves from the attacks of the potential enemies. To complete their
construction projects, the Egyptian masters made the life of the Hebrews miserably harsh.
Here emerged Moses. He unified a diverse group of people into a national group with a “singular purpose” in
history. He led them out of Egypt, by defeating the Egyptians in the battle of Sea of Reeds.
This is the event which is recorded as EXODUS, which made Hebrews as a nation and created: The Children
of Israel.”
Who was Moses. He came from nowhere. He could not be a king, or a leader or a general, as the Hebrew
groups, he led had no political power. He had no experience but he had the VISION and the WILL to realize
that vision, the two ingredients of true leadership.
Yet another story is from my country, India-the story of the 7th Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. For the
first forty years, he had no interest in politics or any public office, even though, his mother was the Prime
Minister of India. Politics was imposed upon him, when his brother, who was the right hand man of his
mother, died in a plane accident. Prime Minster ship, the highest Public Office in India, was imposed upon
him, when his mother, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in October 1984.
A young man of forty, with no EXPERIENCE of politics and Public Office, led his party to a landslide victory
(441 seats of 545 seats in Parliament) and led his nation out of a shackled regime into the globalized
economy. He dismantled government quotas, tariffs and permit regulations, that were hurting free trade. He
modernized education. He expanded science and technology. He was the one to bring into closer to USA. In
short, he was the one who put India on the road to prosperity. Once gain, it was not EXPERIENCE but the
VISION and the WILL that made him a great leader, even though, he was pretty young.
History bears me out when I say that to lead or direct a nation to greatness, you don’t need to come from a
political dynasty or a bureaucratic group. History has proved again and again that EXPERIENCE is not the
soul of leadership. VISION and WILL to realize it are the two main ingredients. Every body believes that
Senator Obama has both
. Why scare the people, then?