ShoutTawe

21st January 2009

Posted by dirty from Cardiff - Published on 22/12/2008 at 14:46
1 comments » - Tagged as People, Topical

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WORDS: Yasmin Begum (Youth Editorial Group)

In little under a month, the festive season will be over.

The Christmas and New Year parties and the gift-giving shall be a memory, and we'll go back to our routine of seven o'clock starts.

On Wednesday 21 January, Barack Obama, the president elect will offically become the president?of the United States Of America.

His predecessor, George Bush, is unarguably one of the most controversial presidents in living memory. Bush's elect into the White House has been hotly discussed by such public figures as Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore.

Many believe that these elections were rigged through the conditions imposed on those who wished to vote and many ballots from the state of Florida going conviniently 'missing'.

I won't go into depth, but if you're interested in this fiasco, go to central library and read up on some political books written around that time, or type it into Google!

Eight months into his term, 9/11 happened. Two jumbo jets crashed into the twin towers, killing 5000 people. A thick smog covered the surrounding area of New York, causing billions of dollars of damage to the city.

In response, he started started two wars: one in Afghanistan which has raised questionable doubts over the country's well-being, and another in Iraq, where a recent survey conducted by the UN has stated that life was 'better under Saddam'.

Bush is solely responsible for his War On Terror, where we as a country followed suit because of our 'special relationship' with the US.

According to some sources, in excess of 30 million people demonstrated in 3000 protests against the war in Iraq, but alas, the people do not govern the state, it's more like the other way around.

Armed with his wars, Bush raised American debts up to $11.3 trillion, with only 67% of his party agreeing with his expendeture, and 1% of democrats agreeing with him.

Two wars later, and tell me, where's Osama Bin Laden?

Perhaps one of the most heated misconducts of his time in power is his handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 90% of people from Greater New Orleans (the wealthier part) were evacuated in time, but many of the inhabitants of New Orleans itself were too poor to leave.

Poverty is at its second highest in Louisiana, with 67% of the people living in New Orleans being black, 30% of people live in poverty and 50% of children live in poverty.

The leveys broke, despite Bush's reassurances that New Orleans was "fully prepared". He did not return early from his holiday in Texas, and on the morning that the levees broke and hundreds of people lost their lives, the president was playing golf.

People were stranded in their own homes with no food or water; corpses floating in and out of homes. All of New Orleans' Ninth Ward area was flooded, the black and poor part of the city, with some conspiracies saying that this was a precaution so as not to flood the richer parts of the city.

The racial and class tensions between the inhabitants of New Orleans reached breaking point when in the aftermath of Katrina, reports of looting, rape and crime became commonplace for days, before the US Government stepped in.

Over 1000 people died.

25,000 people were put in the Superdome and many others (up to 25,000) being shipped out to other parts of the US on a one-way ticket. E Coli and hepatitis were only two of the diseases spread by the sewage running into the stagnant water, severe dehydration, and the corpses.

Hip-hop artist Kanye West once famously said, "George Bush hates black people." Poverty rates in the US are climbing, and you're more likely to be living in poverty if you live in a rural area.

You're also more likely to be poor if you're Native American, Hispanic or if you're black - why exactly is this Fifteen percent of all Americans live in poverty, regardless of their age, gender, martial status or race.

The stock market is in recession in America, with a large proportion of social scientists and economists calling it an 'economic crisis'; the American government has spent up to $715 million bailing out banks, and national unemploment rose to 6.1%. That's millions of people; 15,000,000.

So why is this all relevant to us

We share a special relationship with the US and their government. Someone once said that whatever happens in America will be here in a matter of moments. Their stock market effects us; if they go into war, we go into war - we mirror each other when it comes to political matters.

Bush's failiures as a president are huge, and Barack Obama will bare the brunt of it all. The non-existent but spiralling health care system, the two wars, a very likely American depression, the poor schooling system, the race and class inequalities... he will inherit all of them.

Barack Obama is America's first African-American president, but he's come under fire as he grew up in a 'white' background, and he had no link to the Civil Rights Movement through his family. As far as many are concerned, he's had it easy.

However, he has the potential to change everything. From immigration to lessening the gap between rich and poor, he can do it all as President. He can dramatically reduce America's carbon footprint and sign up to the Kyoto agreement that Bush didn't sign. He can change things; here's hoping.

I've got my fingers crossed for next year, I've got (if little) faith in Obama after his speeches and policies that I haven't had with any previous presidents or prime ministers. Let's hope that he not only reverses Bush's legacy on America, but also alters America for the better.

I am curious and expectant to see what Barack makes of his inheritance, and somewhat optimistic that the saying of 'Same shit, different president' will no longer be on the tips of the tongues of many.

IMAGE: kalexnova