There is this thought that we all come into this world a blank slate - a tabula rasa; of which has no initial knowledge, emotions, or history of origin. And upon life, layers of our own experiences ,build up of others' influences; we become who we are today.Individuals who consist of a mix of existing elements which definite combination makes us uniquely; ourselves.
The question here then is, how original are we?
When we do research, do we really form our own thoughts; or merely remain the continuously flinching advocator of an already established perspective?
Are we truly, our own beings with entirely one-of-a-kind minds?
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Obama's acceptance text- an inspiring speech to add to my collection:
Read if you please- it definitely adds insight to the world ahead of us: one of which I'm confident Obama would change for the greater good on behalf of the superpower of the globe.
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who
accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the
farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my
daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton,
who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted
Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice
President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful
to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a
man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the
Amtrak train he still takes home every night.
To the love
of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia
- I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood
before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young
man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or
well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could
achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that
has always set this country apart - that through hard work and
sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come
together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can
pursue their dreams as well.
That's why I stand here
tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment
when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students
and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the
courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those
defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is
in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans
are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have
lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet.
More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you
can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are
not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct
result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of
George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the
brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after
a lifetime of hard work.
This country is more
generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment
he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and
then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went
home to tell his family the news.
We are more
compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets
and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major
American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the
American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across
this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance
to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next
week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George
Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here
because we love this country too much to let the next four years look
like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight
is enough."
Now let there be no
doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our
country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our
gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those
occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can
deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear:
John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time.
Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it
say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more
than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not
ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue
after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care
and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but
independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under
this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are
strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his
economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he
said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that
we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."
Now, I don't believe
that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of
Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define
middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How
else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big
corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more
than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health
care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education
plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan
that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited
Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and
hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington,
they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is -
you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market
will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
- even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the
mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of
each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college
diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were
created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American
family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has
under George Bush.
We measure the strength
of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits
of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a
risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on
tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job
- an economy that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use
to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that
fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that
is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of
those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my
grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's
Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to
college on the GI Bill.
In the face of that
young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night
shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own
while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps
but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with
the help of student loans and scholarships.
When I listen to
another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all
those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and
fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
And when I hear a woman
talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about
my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to
middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions
because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work.
She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself
so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into
me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching
tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.
I don't know what kind
of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been
mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And
it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our
promise alive as President of the United States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own
lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each
other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that
says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth,
but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create
American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of
the road.
Ours is a promise that
says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is
that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and
provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our
toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and
technology.
Our government should
work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should
ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and
influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of
America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we
also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my
brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.
That's the promise we
need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out
exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
Change means a tax code
that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American
workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I
will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas,
and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right
here in America.
I will eliminate
capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that
will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut
taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like
this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for
the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of
them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards
for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels.
And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator
McCain took office.
Now is the time to end
this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure,
not a long-term solution. Not even close.
As President, I will
tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find
ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies
re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right
here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford
these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next
decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and
solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that
will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and
can't ever be outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every
child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to
compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight
because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle
for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in
early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and
pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange,
I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep
our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your
community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college
education.
Now is the time to
finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for
every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your
premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage
that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my
mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of
cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against
those who are sick and need care the most.
Now is the time to help
families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in
America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for
a sick child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to
change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead
of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future
generations.
And now is the time to
keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want
my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these
plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for
every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't
help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line
by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones
we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet
twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must
also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than
just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each
of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and
moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but
each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more
efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men
who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that
programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off
the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take
more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children
need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.
And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at
home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to
have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as
the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
For while Senator
McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up
and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real
threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through"
in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish
the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and
made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if
we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow
bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where
he lives.
And today, as my call
for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the
Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we
learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in
deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a
misguided war.
That's not the judgment
we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face
the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
You don't defeat a
terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq.
You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in
Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained
our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with
more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not
the change we need.
We are the party of
Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats
won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us
safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that
generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and
we are here to restore that legacy.
As Commander-in-Chief,
I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our
troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to
give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits
they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in
Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban
in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts.
But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran
from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will
build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century:
terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate
change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that
America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to
the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a
better future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions
for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to
change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without
challenging each other's character and patriotism.
The times are too
serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So
let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so
do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our
battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but
they have fought together and bled together and some died together
under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue
America - they have served the United States of America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require
tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast
off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has
been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages
or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of
common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have
to restore.
We may not agree on
abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted
pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be
different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by
gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the
Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I
know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can
agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit
the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of
discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone
who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an
employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too
is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can
find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common
effort.
I know there are those
who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence
on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public
life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of
traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't
have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters.
If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as
someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the
cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work,
all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and
again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already
know.
I get it. I realize
that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the
typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of
Washington.
But I stand before you
tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the
nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about
me. It's been about you.
For eighteen long
months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics
of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we
can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and
expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us -
that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come
from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the
American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new
ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming.
Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois,
when we provided health care to more children and moved more families
from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across
party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable,
to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of
terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in
this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in
those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans
who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've
seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than
see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after
losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a
hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours
has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We
have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us
strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but
that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that
American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even
when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our
differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is
unseen, that better place around the bend.
That promise is our
greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck
them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that
has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a
promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the
ballot.
And it is that promise
that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of
this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's
Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who
gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of
anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and
frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people
heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of
life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That
together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone,"
the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we
shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn
back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to
educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix
and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to
protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We
cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge
once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that
American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without
wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.
Admiring the cake