Lessons we should learn

Those of us who have had the privilege to live the past two historical years and to observe their extraordinary conclusion, we must take time to reflect, analyze and wonder how what happen can enrich our personal and collective life experience. People around the world have already realized how the consequential influence of this United States election of a non-white president has impacted their own vision of themselves in the global universe.
However, this is only one aspect of a main larger reality. After his swearing in on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be known as the 44th president of the United States to serve the interest and well being of all the people in this nation. That means facing and handling up front a multitude of urgent problems that require each a satisfactory solution.
Hope is that he can and will do it, because he has a plan that prioritize the priorities. Thus, within each topic there are essential subtopics to be addressed. Since last month the economy and its multiple components are at the center of all concerns. Congress rushed to vote and the president signed into law a 700 billion dollars appropriation to be injected into the various components of the economy.
The law was the easy part while the application has been found much more complex and difficult. In addition to scrutiny into the fund’s proper used there are concerns for individual real estates, factory and small business survivals, middle class purchasing power, unemployment, food and fuel prices, and others. Therefore the funds allocated must be reevaluated and additional specific funds might be necessary.
President-elect Obama once said, “Our future is inextricable link to the education of our children”. And he added, “test should support learning not used just for accounting”. The new president has insisted on the importance of early childhood education and recommended the emphasis of science, mathematics and languages in curriculums. Recent news indicate that he will grant funds for further degree studies to competent college graduates against four years of early childhood teaching.
As soon as he returned to the Senate this week, Senator Ted Kennedy, one of the early supporters of President-elect Obama, has announced his intention to introduce his universal health care legislation that was so much at the center of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, now apparently under consideration as Secretary of State in the Obama’s government. This heath care legislation is indeed one of Mr. Obama’s priorities.
On top of these concerns is the essential question of National Security that does not involve only the military but also science and technology, intelligence, nuclear detection, custom and border protection, the coast guard, immigration, secret service, and others like FBI and CIA. Although not directly connected there are the questions related to energy independence and environment. All these, however, as essentially important as they may be, are part of 28 ministerial departments and agencies that the president-elect must staff.
Nevertheless, President-elect Barack Obama is not amazed. From the beginning and through out his almost two years campaign, he was able to bring around him a large number of highly competent individuals – democrats, republicans, independents, male and female of divers creeds, disciplines and races – to advise him in all the areas related to the responsibilities of the president of the United States. It is often said that, “the wise man is the one who learn to seek advice and listen”. This is what Barack Obama has done all along and many appreciated that and believe in his leadership.
A special course on “Barack Obama’s Journey to Presidency” should be added to universities in countries like Haiti that is strongly suffering from amateurism and lack of vision. A country where anyone knows everything ends up an under develop country where very little or nothing is positively accomplish. Haitians, especially the wise one, should take time to plan, seek advise and listen.