Obama sketched out a different theory of social change than the one
Clinton had implied earlier in the evening. Instead of relying on a
president who fights for those who feel invisible, Obama, in the
climactic passage of his speech, described how change bubbles from the
bottom-up: “And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up.
And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And
standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to
change the world!”For people raised on Jane Jacobs, who
emphasized how a spontaneous dynamic order could emerge from thousands
of individual decisions, this is a persuasive way of seeing the world.
For young people who have grown up on Facebook, YouTube, open-source
software and an array of decentralized networks, this is a compelling
theory of how change happens.
If Obama wins the election, he’s set a rather high bar for himself. Either he’ll be a goat or a hero. Change is a rare and, at best, incremental occurrence in this country. I can’t wait to see what happens.
Apt. 11d 