At the end of the chapter, Barack Obama imagines a world where politics balance idealism and realism with compromise. However, to do so we must sacrifice and be open to new ideas to tame the deficit.ħ. Barack Obama is saying that as a working majority we must realize that solving America's problems will be tough but possible. He was the son of an interracial middle class couple, which had already limited his options.Ħ. Barack Obama felt attached to this period because he felt as if he was a product of the era. Also, the opposing and protesting of the Vietnam War, and of minorities. In the 60', the civil rights movement was an event that challenged the existing social structure and forced America to choose sides. Lastly, terrorism results in an increased military power and cooperation with other nations which leaves Americans to resort to either isolationism or belligerence.ĥ. It also exposes hardworking Americans to poverty and puts a burden on tax-payers. As far as healthcare, it is wildly expensive and inefficient.
There are some who want to dismantle public schools and those who want more money for it without any demonstration that will put it to good use. Obama mentions education, healthcare, and terrorism as major focuses of the United States. To help ease this inevitable truth, he suggests that opposing parties work together and work together to reach a common goal.Ĥ. He knew that it would be constant opposition and difficult situations. In this chapter, Obama makes the statement "I understood politics as a full-contact sport." He says this to say that he didn't expect politics to be an easy task. Republicans and Democrats seem to always be in opposition mainly because the democratic party believes that the government should be there to fix the problem, whereas the the republicans feel like the government IS the problem.ģ.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans could ever seem to reach common grounds when it came to things like Iraq, Guns, Abortion, Taxes, the 10 commands, gay marriage, immigration, education, etc.Ģ. In the eyes of Barack Obama, for a number of reasons, America was divided.