Outsourcing vs. Obama

Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, cuts across an impressive figure – one that inspires many from our generation. His speeches reflect intelligence coupled with idealism. He could very well be the next socialist cultural icon.

Well, that’s not exactly what I want to talk about. What I find interesting about Barack Obama is his ability to remain in a highly pro-nation state, at a time when cosmopolitanism and globalization are the order of the day. No doubt, every person elected as the President of the United States needs to have a strong pro-nation stand, but Obama’s speeches seem to go back several generations, talking about how the United States is falling back and needs to get ahead of countries like China and India in today’s competitive race.

His speeches often focus on outsourcing, specifically the outsourcing of jobs to India as sign of the United States’ productive incompetence. His belief that America could have been a far richer country if they had control over outsourcing seems regressive and represents anti-globalization tendencies. In fact in a number of ways, Obama’s stand seems to make little sense – it almost argues that the American population wouldn’t be able to compete in the global market without any state protection.

What is still more fascinating about all this is, Obama’s world view is still respected among intellectuals and academics all across the world – despite the fact that it lacks logic. Just reminds us of how the actions and beliefs of human beings are guided more by emotions and ideals than by logic.