President Obama's Idea of "A New Era of Resonsibility"

Q: According to President Obama's inaugural address, this is "a new era of responsibility," as nothing is so defining of character as "difficult times." Tell what this refers to nationally, locally, and to your personality.

A: In these difficult times, we see small companies closing down because of going into bankrupt, our economy failing, and many other unfortunate events. Our country is even printing more money making our dollar bill contain less worth even though our country is already in a terrible debt. Fortunately, there is some change in the minds of Americans. People were able to look past the color of skin and elect a African-American president for the first time. People looked past race and chose because of the ideas he had swirling in his head and his plans to begin to restore our economy and our country.

In his address he states that this is "a new era of responsibility." Meaning that we are obligated to fix what disasters we have created and restore ourselves back to a stable, unfaltering state. In President Barack Obama's inaugural address speech he mentioned, "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet." He is acknowledging the fact that our country, our economy, and our people need a change, and we are responsible to make that change. We were able to put ourselves in the condition we are in, and we should be able to reverse it and get ourselves out.

President Obama mentioned the war currently happening in Iraq. In my opinion, we have no need to have our soldiers over there any longer then they already have been. Hopefully, he returns them home to their friends and families safely. People are already starting to find that there is no need for them to be continually based in Iraq. Hopefully, we do not have another reaction from the people towards the soldiers as what happened after the Vietnam War. President Obama also made a quick mention of our economy. He states, "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age." There needs to be a change in the way people spend money and the way our economy functions in our country. It will take years to restore what has been lost recently, some of it never returning. The jobs that are being lost is currently nearing 10% unemployment nationally. If the car industry fails and closes then it will jump dramatically. There has been an attempt to make some restoration...dropping the the gas prices drastically from about $4.60 a gallon to about $2.50. Unfortunately, they are currently increasing in price. Not nearly at the price they were, but they are still rising. President Barack H. Obama also mentioned the need to recognize our deteriorating earth and life on this planet. The landfills are filling up, the o-zone layer is changing and effecting our weather, and the smoke/smog that our factories are emitting, and the little amount of oil we have left for gas. There needs to be a change in how our Americans function. Hopefully it will help to get the entire world involved in restoring our earth.

Locally in our towns, we have seen the rising of gas prices, the drop of the housing industry and the amount of job unemployment that is engulfing our society one bite at a time. As time continues we watch as more small businesses, as well as large name-brand organizations, go bankrupt and are forced to fire their employees, leaving them jobless and without an income. Locally we can see that our unemployment rate in Shasta County is reaching almost 10% and continually ascending. Obama has recognized this and wants to make a difference and turn this around. Hopefully, he will also make an effort to change the way our schools are being funded. Money is continually being stripped from the children who will one day, run our country and be the ones in charge. That needs to be flipped and turn upside down to make sure our youth is given a fair future to reach for and a better chance to make a difference when they come of age.


Personally, what each American can do at the moment includes many small efforts to make a bigger difference. It will take more then the few who are already trying to make a difference to actually turn what is happening around and restore it back to a healthy state. It will not be easy, but it will take numbers to make something happen. Small efforts in every home should include saving and spending money wisely. No big time, unneeded spending should happen for a while. Recycling is another positive attribute that should be included as well. It would help greatly if everyone made at least an effort everyday to save their bottles and cans and make sure they are taken to a recycling plant instead of straight to a landfill where they will sit for many years to come. It will take small efforts in big numbers to make anything happen in this world. Hopefully, our new president, President Barack H. Obama will be the leader to make this happen and make the difference to change our society around.