Obama sketched out a different theory of social change than the one Clinton had implied earlier in the evening. Instead of relying on a president who fights for those who feel invisible, Obama, in the climactic passage of his speech, described how change bubbles from the bottom-up: “And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world!”
For people raised on Jane Jacobs, who emphasized how a spontaneous dynamic order could emerge from thousands of individual decisions, this is a persuasive way of seeing the world. For young people who have grown up on Facebook, YouTube, open-source software and an array of decentralized networks, this is a compelling theory of how change happens.
If Obama wins the election, he's set a rather high bar for himself. Either he'll be a goat or a hero. Change is a rare and, at best, incremental occurrence in this country. I can't wait to see what happens.
Not to open a can of worms, but quite a few Republicans online are at least talking about voting for Hillary Clinton in the primary (see ace.mu.nu), out of a desire to see the bleeding go on as long as possible.
Posted by: Amy P | March 04, 2008 at 10:38 PM
kausfiles.com and NRO's Corner are both reporting Republicans voting for Clinton in Texas to mess with the Democratic primary.
Posted by: Amy P | March 05, 2008 at 11:36 AM