We are at a troubling crossroads right now, at least if the rise of the far-right worries you.
On Friday, I went to a public interview with Barack Obama. “How boring,” said our taxi driver.
My friend in the back seat immediately sent me a message: “Do you think he’s a Trumper?”
We clambered out of the taxi, giggling, and joined the 7 500 throng. I guess we were all thinking the same thing – or trying not to because it’s exhausting.
ALSO READ: The world is but a mirror …
Suffice to say, we are at a troubling crossroads right now, at least if the rise of the far-right worries you, or climate change, or genocide.
Like many people, I’m currently finding the world especially heavy, fuelled by discord and mistrust, seeded with tribalism and venom.
It feels like all the love is being sucked out through a plastic straw stuck up the nostril of a dying turtle.
I went to see Obama because I wanted to feel hope again, or Hope, because his hope always had a capital H.
But Hate is in fashion. As a certain world leader stated gleefully at a certain recent funeral: “I HATE my enemies,” which translates as anyone who hasn’t drunk the Oros.
And as former world leader Obama said on this night: “We need to break the cycle of us and them.”
That’s his starting point. “Maybe I should have called out some of the more negative figures,” he conceded, “or spoken louder about the trouble we saw coming down the road.”
READ MORE: The sum of all things political
He talked thoughtfully, with no notes: “The basic norms… the habits of the heart… have been fraying,” he said.
He stated the impossibility of building anything worthwhile “solely on a legacy of oppression. We have the capacity to overcome the past”.
He talked of Gaza, the global south, Ukraine, the failings of globalisation, oil spills in the Gulf of (a loaded pause) Mexico.
“We need to build trust at all social levels,” he said.
“People need to feel seen, not scolded and attacked.” Common ground is found not through talking but by “listening”.
I went to see Obama because I wanted to feel better about the world. I wanted someone to tell me how to fix it.
I wanted the impossible; I wanted a miracle. In that, I was disappointed.
The short answer is there is no short answer: most important things cannot be said or solved in a soundbite.
However, there is always Hope.
NOW READ: Words won’t feed Gaza Strip
