Introduction
Barrack Obama is a United States presidential candidate for the year 2008. His campaign is a position of a nationalistic approach in that under the nationalistic approach, nationality is one of the most important aspects of one’s identity but not in terms of race, ethnicity among other forms of human aspects. You see that Obama is not a white but a black America hence meaning that his campaigns tend to show the issue of being nationalistic but not looking at the many differences people have said the issue of race, color, or even ethnicity. Nationalism, in this case, can be taken to mean a political movement or even a doctrine which holds that a nation which in this case can be defined in terms of its culture and ethnicity has its right so that it could contact an independent or even a political community which in this case is based on a common destiny and a shared history. The nation in this case is supposed to be ministered by a single state. So in this case under the nationalistic approach, you find that the national identity, in this case, supersedes the biological attachments which are attached to so many ethnic groups like color, race, and other biological differences which people tend to have similar from other groups. (Craig, 1998).
Barrack Obama Campaign is a position of Nationalism
Barrack Obama’s campaign is a position of the nationalistic approach in the sense that his campaigns are geared towards the economic nation. This can be proved in the statement when he said that “I showed my patriotism by working to help the veterans so that they could end the Iraq war plus also improving the health care and the economy”. All his campaigns address the issue of the whole nation in trying to the nation that all the people in the United States have the pride of living in their country through the equal sharing of the countries resources. This is one of the major elements of being a nationalist. You find that the citizens of that country have the full potential of enjoying the countries resources. For example in his campaign, Obama said that he has the plan of ensuring a national health plan for all its citizens. His health plan will cover all the uninsured Americans who include the self-employed plus the small businesses.
This is because you find that most of the self-employed and the people with their small businesses are usually neglected from insuring their own business since they are not in a position to buy affordable health coverage like those people with big businesses. So under his plan, he is going to ensure that there is a national health plan which will cater to everybody. He said that there will be no any American who will be turned away from any insurance plan as a result of any illness. This is a good approach of being nationalistic in that he shall ensure that all the citizens living in America are in a position to get such treatments as long as they are members of that country. He also said that he will ensure mandatory coverage of children. Here, he meant that all the children living in America will have health care coverage hence this is a good initiative for most of the poor people in the society. You will find that if he happens to become the next American president, he will ensure that all the people living in the US will have equal benefits and no one will be left behind. This is because you find that many times, most of the poor people having been neglected and left to suffer. But under his government, he will ensure that there is national health insurance for all the citizens living in America. (Lars-Erick, 2000).
Nationalists see the nations as an inclusive categorization of all human beings hence meaning that everybody has the right to be in a specific nation. It is in that nation that there is a shared language, values, and culture which are supposed to be shared by all the citizens of that country. So under the Obamas campaign, he is nationalistic in that even though he is a black American, he respects the American culture and the sense of having a common language that is English. We tend to see English as the common language in the US and we see that in most of his campaigns, he addresses them in English hence meaning that he obeys the language which is spoken in the US. This then tries to tell us that most of his campaigns are a position of nationalistic in that he respects the language and the culture of the US just like any other American citizen. He also observes the national flag and this can be explained when he said that he is a nationalist who observes the national flag. He quoted that “I wound not be standing here if it wasn’t for the country. There is no other country where my story is even possible, somebody born to a teenage mum and also raised by a single mother in Kansas, able to get an education and also run for the highest office in the American land, I could not help but only love this country for all that it has given me”. This statement shows that his campaigns are a position of nationalism since he loves his country so much. (Ernest, 2000).
Nationalism ensures that the government is open to its citizens whereby the citizens of that nation are in a position to know and also access the government activities. It is as a result of secretive and also closed administration of the government to the citizens of the country which has led to the corrupt government whereby some individuals benefit at the expense of the others. Nationalism ensures that all the citizens of a particular country have the full potential of knowing what the government activities are and the making of decisions that will lead to the growth of the country. But under the Obamas campaign, he says that he will use cutting-edge techniques which will help in creating new ideas and transparency plus equal participation to all the Americans. This is because a nationalistic approach says that all the members of the country have the right to participate in the economic building of the country in which they belong.
He has already set up a technology that will enable equal participation of all citizens living in America which will tend to connect the Americans with the government so that they can be in a position to know what the government is doing for them. This will then engage the citizens in democracy in that all the citizens of the country will be involved in the economic activities which will lead to economic growth plus equity in sharing of the countries resources. This new technology, he says that he will establish pilot programs which will tend to open up government decision making plus also involving the members of the public in the work of agencies hence this will try to make the people participate which will make the government make more informed decisions. This is very much important as an aspect of nationalism that involves equal participation of all the citizens living in that country. So through this, you will find that the citizens living in America will be in a position to make important decisions that can be adapted by the government which will later lead to the economic growth of the country. (John, 2004).
Nationalism also has the element of religion in that every country has its dominant religion. For example, you find that in America, the only dominant religion is Christianity and you find that Obama is a Christian. Most of the Americans who are Christians are also against Muslims simply because they tend to believe that the Muslims in this case are terrorists. But in this case, we see that he belongs to the national religion in America. This clearly shows that his position is nationalism even though he is black but not white. He respects the people’s culture, values, and religion and that is why most of his campaigns are towards the economic development of America. As being nationalism, then it is important to ensure that one observes the culture, values, and religion of that country.
One has to stay as per the culture of that given country. But with the case of Obama, his campaigns are a position to nationalism but not to bring any change as far the country culture is concerned. He only speaks of economic development and how he will ensure change as far as the economy of the US is concerned. He says that he shall ensure that there is sustainable development in America by ensuring that all the industries have been in a position to compete well with the other competitive industries so that they can realize their competitive advantage. This is the most important thing for any presidential candidate aspiring to be the president of the US. The only thing people should be talking about is reviving the economy which has depreciated for the past period as a result of poor leadership. People should forget about their differences and all participate in the nation-building by ensuring that the members of the country have the chance to make up their decisions which can lead to the economic growth of the country. (Ernest, 2000).
His campaigns are also towards ensuring that there is nation-building through the provision of education facilities to all citizens in America. This is one of the important areas of nationalism in that every child has the right of getting an education. But you will find that most of the children have not been in a position to get good education yet they claim that they are citizens of our country. People have to be proud of their nation and this is achieved only through ensuring that people can access most of the human essentials like free education. So Obamas campaigns are nationalistic in that he promises the citizens of America free education for the needy students. All the students will be in a position to access free education so that they can be in a position to have increased standards of living. These are the leaders of tomorrow but when denied the necessary education, then it will mean that the country will not be in a position to be run effectively since we will have fewer people to work for the nation. So he is nationalistic in that he respects every citizen living in America by ensuring that there is sustainable development in the country with equal distribution of the country’s resources so that all the citizens in America can have increased standards of living. (John, 2002).
Conclusion
Nationalism means that a country has the right to constitute an independent economy that is based on a shared history with a common destiny whereby all the citizens of the country have to live as per the law of the land and work towards the economic development whereby the resources should be shared equally. It is through this that the Obamas campaign is a position of nationalism through ensuring that he has lived as per the laws of the land and respecting the citizens of the country but not to bring changes as far as the law of the country is concerned.
Reference
Craig, J. (1998): nationalism. University of Minnesota Press.
Lars-Erick, C. (2000): Emergent Actors in World Politics: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve. Princeton. Princeton University Press.
Ernest, G. (2000): nations and Nationalism. Cornell University Press.
John, R. (2004): Culture, Identity and Politics. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
John, A. (2002): The state of the nation. Ernest Gellner and the Theory of Nationalism. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.