Reformers Burn Like Candles...

In my Modern Russian History class yesterday, I got the opportunity to talk to my prof about the economy (economic crisis) and what he thought about it, and about Obama. It was really quite interesting. He gave me an answer in global terms of history. Here is the gist of what he told me.

"Reformers burn like candles..." What he means by this, is that in 4 or so years, Obama may lose all of the wave of hope that he rode in on. Its pretty typical of people that challenge the system. They make changes, and some are good, some are bad. FDR, an epic American president almost lost the election in 1944 because his reforms were not popular any more, and even though he was a war president, people were ready for change. The main reason that he won the 1944 election was because of the passing of the G.I. Bill of Rights (known more commonly as just the G.I. Bill). This gave soldiers who served in conflict, or for a certain number of years in times of non-conflict the funds to go to college and get a degree, among other benifits. Once the spouses of those fighting all over the globe heard of these benifits that their significant others would get, they voted for FDR. Pretty straight forward. Winston Churchill, the great British war-time Prime Minister was also a reformer, but as soon as WWII was over, Churchill was ousted from power. The Brits were tired of him, and wanted someone new. Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and USSR Communist Party, was an incredible reformer. He instituted Glastnost and Perestroika in the USSR, and made efforts to make the market into a free market, rather than a state controlled apparatus. While part of it is that he got out shined by Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation who was in power at the same time as Gorbachev. Today, both are seen as traitors to the Russian Federation, because they broke up the USSR and put the country on a path towards democratization (in a very messy way, I might add). The point is, these two leaders, both great reformers, are now hated by their own people for getting them out of an incredibly repressive system of government. Yeltsin, in the 3 years after Gorbachev's resignation, burned though all of the good will that he had built up from taking over for Gorbachev. He was a reckless leader, reforming at a breakneck speed, and without much care for what those reforms might do in the end. The only reason that he won the election after those 3 years was because he literally bought the election. The ironic thing being, he de-centralized the media prior to this, and so they caught him doing it, and basically it has discredited the democratic system in Russia. This is the direct lead in to the Putin Presidency, but thats a story for another day...

While I am not saying the Obama is like Gorbachev, or Yeltsin, or even Churchill and FDR, what I am saying is that while I think that Obama is going everything possible to fix the US economy and standing in the world, I can see the dissent rising already. While that is a key part of our political system, and, arguably, the most important, I think that it is also important that we allow the changes to take place, no matter how long they take. They may hurt right now, and they may continue to hurt for years to come, but the fact is, there are a lot of changes that need to be done and I think that Obama is the man for the job. I only hope that his reforming doesn't burn out before he gets re-elected!!!