ID :
29954
Thu, 11/13/2008 - 09:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29954
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(EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on Nov. 13)
Volunteering for change
American President-elect Barack Obama won the election with his slogan of change.
But it will be difficult for Obama to carry out the educational, health care and
environmental reforms he promised in his campaign as he focuses on solving the
economic crisis.
Despite rampant skepticism, Obama proposed the establishment of a Classroom Corps
to help students in underserved schools, among other initiatives, on a recently
launched official Web site. A Health Corps will improve public health outreach; a
Clean Energy Corps would help in weatherization and renewable energy projects. A
Veterans Corps is to help veterans in hospitals, nursing homes and homeless
shelters; a Homeland Security Corps will help communities plan, prepare for and
respond to emergencies.
Obama seems to have judged that it is more efficient to invite participation from
the private sector rather than the government doing it alone. This is why he
intends to expand the Peace Corps and its domestic equivalent.
This is his blueprint to change the United States, with the help of the people
who believed in his message and voted for him. During his victory speech, Obama
credited millions of volunteers with the win, and reiterated that without their
help, change would not be possible. Obama encouraged all Americans to take care
of their neighbors through volunteerism, patriotism, responsibility and a sense
of sacrifice.
In his autobiography, ???Dreams from My Father,??? he said change does not come
automatically but from well-organized grassroots. It was after he graduated from
Harvard Law School that he learned this lesson, from community work in
predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Chicago, rather than earning a
high annual salary at a prestigious law firm.
Naysayers are calling Obama???s volunteer projects overly ambitious. However, the
young people who support Obama, the so-called ???Obama Generation,??? are already
doing a lot of volunteer work with a passion for change. Surely, then, these
proposals are not impossible. For example, Princeton University graduates created
the Teach for America initiative in 1990, through which over 20,000 students from
prestigious schools in the country take part teaching students in poor areas.
It will be interesting to see whether the Obama generation can bring change in
the United States through volunteerism. We may be able to approach the current
economic crisis with similar methods.
(END)
American President-elect Barack Obama won the election with his slogan of change.
But it will be difficult for Obama to carry out the educational, health care and
environmental reforms he promised in his campaign as he focuses on solving the
economic crisis.
Despite rampant skepticism, Obama proposed the establishment of a Classroom Corps
to help students in underserved schools, among other initiatives, on a recently
launched official Web site. A Health Corps will improve public health outreach; a
Clean Energy Corps would help in weatherization and renewable energy projects. A
Veterans Corps is to help veterans in hospitals, nursing homes and homeless
shelters; a Homeland Security Corps will help communities plan, prepare for and
respond to emergencies.
Obama seems to have judged that it is more efficient to invite participation from
the private sector rather than the government doing it alone. This is why he
intends to expand the Peace Corps and its domestic equivalent.
This is his blueprint to change the United States, with the help of the people
who believed in his message and voted for him. During his victory speech, Obama
credited millions of volunteers with the win, and reiterated that without their
help, change would not be possible. Obama encouraged all Americans to take care
of their neighbors through volunteerism, patriotism, responsibility and a sense
of sacrifice.
In his autobiography, ???Dreams from My Father,??? he said change does not come
automatically but from well-organized grassroots. It was after he graduated from
Harvard Law School that he learned this lesson, from community work in
predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Chicago, rather than earning a
high annual salary at a prestigious law firm.
Naysayers are calling Obama???s volunteer projects overly ambitious. However, the
young people who support Obama, the so-called ???Obama Generation,??? are already
doing a lot of volunteer work with a passion for change. Surely, then, these
proposals are not impossible. For example, Princeton University graduates created
the Teach for America initiative in 1990, through which over 20,000 students from
prestigious schools in the country take part teaching students in poor areas.
It will be interesting to see whether the Obama generation can bring change in
the United States through volunteerism. We may be able to approach the current
economic crisis with similar methods.
(END)
