After a world where politicians were arrogant and distant figures, and thanks to the likes of Obama, Blair, Clinton or Sarkozy, politics are back on the list of desirable careers.

I grew up in a world where leaders were political animals, cut from the people, an unreachable little family with its own dirty secrets and methods. For many it was impossible to relate to those men, a different social class, locking power as much as it could, making sure nobody could interfere with the system in place.

The view of politics in the France of the 90s and 00s was summarized at the café du commerce with a simple formula: all crooks! A plotting elite was running the country for its own advantage, disregarding public’s interest in the process.

Then something happened. Politicians became younger, smarter. They restarted to talk about dreams, brought some values and ideals to the debate. Glorified by television, dressed (and hair-dressed ;) to shine, they began to use new technologies to become more intimate with the masses, sharing the inside stories of their daily life, that meeting with the Dalai Lama, that VIP seat at the Olympics’ opening ceremony.

And suddenly politics became cool again. Even the younger generation stood up and “rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy“. Amazing what you can do with inspiration, leadership, and the right technologies.

^{A picture from Obama’s Flickr stream. Technology made him feel closer to the people than any other politician.}

Another question worth pondering: is this happening by chance? Or is Obama the symptom of a more profound change, where politics are undergoing the same changes than, say, “knowledge”, when a certain online encyclopedia established the power of the masses over the one of the elite?

What is sure is that the needed changes will require millions of souls driven by a common vision. The world will have to function more like Wikipedia - “if something is broken, fix it!”, with masses of citizen getting together to better a situation that a small elite can not overcome alone. For that we need inspiration. While many question Obama’s ability to lead the American political machine, we should not overlook the power of inspiration. “Vision without implementation is hallucination” said Benjamin Franklin. And Obama’s biggest contribution might be that he made millions of people believe in the democratic system again, thus enabling the implementation of the changes we badly need.

I am sure that kids are again looking up to the president-elect, thinking to themselves “that’s the job I want to do in the future”. And Obama didn’t even need the supermodel wife to achieve that. He’s that good ;)

Bonus links (thx Steve):

NYT Op-Ed: A Date With Scarcity
“Nov. 4, 2008, is a historic day because it marks the end of an economic era, a political era and a generational era all at once.
Economically, it marks the end of the Long Boom, which began in 1983. Politically, it probably marks the end of conservative dominance, which began in 1980. Generationally, it marks the end of baby boomer supremacy, which began in 1968. For the past 16 years, baby boomers, who were formed by the tumult of the 1960s, occupied the White House. By Tuesday night, if the polls are to be believed, a member of a new generation will become president-elect.
So today is not only a pivot, but a confluence of pivots”

Salon: An open apology to boomers everywhere
But when we watched Barack Obama’s victory speech on Tuesday night, we looked into the eyes of a real leader, and decades of cynicism about politics and grass-roots movements and community melted away in a single moment. We heard the voice of a man who can inspire with his words, who’s unashamed of his own intelligence, who’s willing to treat the citizens of this country like smart, capable people, worthy of respect. For the first time in some of our lifetimes, we believed.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 4:40 pm and is filed under politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.