Obama e a responsabilidade individual

Numa altura em que a maioria dos políticos não se atreve a falar em público de exigências morais e éticas que devam nortear a vida dos cidadãos, Barack Obama volta a surpreender. Apesar de atacado por, supostamente, apresentar um discurso "duro", em especial para os negros americanos, Obama não recua e põe a tónica na primeira das responsabilidades que pode contribuir para a "mudança" (que é independente e está muito para além daquilo que ao Estado terá que ser exigido em ordem a uma ordem social mais justa, nomeadamente através da imposição de maiores contribuições às empresas e aos mais favorecidos): os deveres de civismo, decência e respeito pelo Outro a que todos estamos em primeira linha vinculados, e que só nós (não a lei, nem o Estado) podemos fazer cumprir, na nossa vida familiar e comunitária, como cidadãos, mas também como vizinhos, como pais e educadores (a importância da educação activa, através dos bons exemplos...) ou como filhos e alunos, como cônjuges ou namorados, como automobilistas, etc...

discurso de 14-7-2008 perante a NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

... So yes, we have to demand more responsibility from Washington. And yes we have to demand more responsibility from Wall Street. But we also have to demand more from ourselves. Now, I know some say I've been too tough on folks about this responsibility stuff. But I'm not going to stop talking about it. Because I believe that in the end, it doesn't matter how much money we invest in our communities, or how many 10-point plans we propose, or how many government programs we launch – none of it will make any difference if we don't seize more responsibility in our own lives.That's how we'll truly honor those who came before us. Because I know that Thurgood Marshall did not argue Brown versus Board of Education so that some of us could stop doing our jobs as parents. And I know that nine little children did not walk through a schoolhouse door in Little Rock so that we could stand by and let our children drop out of school and turn to gangs for the support they are not getting elsewhere. That's not the freedom they fought so hard to achieve. That's not the America they gave so much to build. That's not the dream they had for our children.That's why if we're serious about reclaiming that dream, we have to do more in our own lives, our own families, and our own communities. That starts with providing the guidance our children need, turning off the TV, and putting away the video games; attending those parent-teacher conferences, helping our children with their homework, and setting a good example. It starts with teaching our daughters to never allow images on television to tell them what they are worth; and teaching our sons to treat women with respect, and to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; that what makes them men is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one. It starts by being good neighbors and good citizens who are willing to volunteer in our communities – and to help our synagogues and churches and community centers feed the hungry and care for the elderly. We all have to do our part to lift up this country.That's where change begins. And that, after all, is the true genius of America – not that America is, but that America will be; not that we are perfect, but that we can make ourselves more perfect; that brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand, people who love this country can change it. And that's our most enduring responsibility – the responsibility to future generations. We have to change this country for them. We have to leave them a planet that's cleaner, a nation that's safer, and a world that's more equal and more just...




(a partir de 17'20'')