Is Obama’s Challenge Also Ours?

By the mere fact that the U.S. became the world power after World War II, one would be a fool not to recognize that America is the showcase where millions and millions of women and men worldwide seek to understand the behavior of societies and to build their own utopias.

In that country, as surely happens in almost all countries, misery and kindness meet and become lost to show the crucible of human behavior and the economic and historical factors that determine it. There is an element that differentiates the United States: It is the ability to tell the world that they are superior, different, successful, free and yet cruel. Often times too cruel, especially when relating to other nations.

As expected, their president, Barack Obama, is no exception to that reality, even as a black man and a Democrat with Republican and liberal tendencies. This identifies him with the great thinkers who gave birth to that society and even came to inspire the thoughts of Jose Artigas, with Rousseau in his backpack, while he was marching in the “redota” to give birth to the East.

Obama, on Tuesday night, spoke to his fellow citizens. As every president of a world power (the first, for now) does, he told them what the challenges for their society are, and that America carries in her womb the idea to always be first.

This time, the U.S. president did not paint his face with the colors of war, but he went deeper into the background of the American soul to make a strong claim. Obama resorted to going to the time when the USSR was winning the space race with Sputnik, the first to travel to space, to alert his compatriots that they may be in a new era where the United States is not at the vanguard of other societies and communities.

“This is our generation’s Sputnik moment,” Obama said, to draw on the horizon the danger that another nation – in this case China, though he did not name it, exceeds the United States in this new era. “Half a century ago,” Obama said in his speech, “when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t even there yet. NASA didn’t exist. But after investing in better research and education,” he added, “we didn’t just surpass the Soviets, we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.”

Obama’s bet is clear, at least in this occasion: research and education, as fundamental tools for the advancement of society. This is the direction that we Uruguayans want to go in. This is the challenge that lies ahead. President Mujica senses it. Can we do it?