State of The Union

Barack Obama spoke of the lack of trust Americans have for their government. Such distrust can only exist when there is a separation, when the government is a tool that is out of the reach of average citizens. He alluded to this later in the speech. He said, "We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions." This issue of the separation of the people from the government is an issue to often ignored. When people feel that they cannot influence the government, the government is not acting as a democracy. People often think that candidates are elected based on how well their opinions match their own, and that these elections are the only influence they have on the government the live under. This is only as true as one makes it. The division between citizen and civil servant is as much the fault of the government as it is the people. The government was established in such a way that that the people have the power to create the change they desire. The government more than allows this, it depends on this to keep it in line. James Baldwin wrote of this in his essay A Talk to Teachers. He argued, "The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it – at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change." Indeed, no change can come without action. Thus, people act for the change they desire. If they don't seek what they desire, who will? This is why the common cynicism towards the government is not only an indicator of flawed political practices, but also a indicator of a flawed public opinion that the people are powerless. This distrust and distain towards the government with no action being taken to attempt to rid it of the causes of these malicious opinions is exactly what deprives the people of their power. The complaints may be justifiable, but the fact that the people are content to softly mutter their dissatisfaction to themselves, while both asking for change in their silent complaints but not expecting it, is the knell that mourns of the doom of the American ideals of liberty and justice. Without the safeguard of public action and demands, the government slowly will drift towards a government run in the interest of the governors instead of the governed.

The State of the Union Transcript

A Talk To Teachers