Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Down Under
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Melbourne, Australia. It's quite a journey from Baltimore. When I landed at Melbourne airport, I wanted to check into my hotel asap. But my bag apparently chose to stay in the US. The very friendly folks from Qantas Airlines noted my local hotel information, but they also asked me if I had enough clothes for a day and offered me a toiletry kit. Even in my confused state of being, I could tell that this was a nice, thoughtful touch.
Much of my early impressions of Australia were formed by Olivia Newton-John (who was actually born in England), Men at Work, and Crocodile Dundee. Fortunately, I had a richer, more nuanced view from Midnight Oil, Mad Max, and Peter Weir's Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously. Anytime I travel, I experience the disorientation cocktail of jet lag, culture shock, and novelty. In Melbourne, the disorientation dissipated quickly (except for the 14 hour time difference). On the surface, the scenes were familiar to what I see in the US. McDonald's meals still cost the local equivalent of US $4-6. But I noted that Burger King is called "Hungry Jack's". This was my first clue that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Apparently, there is a "takeaway food shop" in Adelaide with the name Burger King. According to one of my friends from Australia, it's an individual business. Can you imagine a small business owner maintaining a trademark against a corporation in the US?
My initial superficial impressions of Melbourne gave way quickly as I visited the amazing Queen Victoria Market (I heard a local refer to it as "the Vic") and walked around the city. Whenever I travel, I'm most fascinated by evidence of cultural exchange. Japan, and Tokyo in particular, felt like a culture clash on several occasions. Melbourne felt like a true cultural mashup. Given its geography, history, demographics, and politics, it's no surprise that Australia felt familiar and exotic at the same time. I explored this reality over the course of my two week visit down under.
Much of my early impressions of Australia were formed by Olivia Newton-John (who was actually born in England), Men at Work, and Crocodile Dundee. Fortunately, I had a richer, more nuanced view from Midnight Oil, Mad Max, and Peter Weir's Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously. Anytime I travel, I experience the disorientation cocktail of jet lag, culture shock, and novelty. In Melbourne, the disorientation dissipated quickly (except for the 14 hour time difference). On the surface, the scenes were familiar to what I see in the US. McDonald's meals still cost the local equivalent of US $4-6. But I noted that Burger King is called "Hungry Jack's". This was my first clue that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Apparently, there is a "takeaway food shop" in Adelaide with the name Burger King. According to one of my friends from Australia, it's an individual business. Can you imagine a small business owner maintaining a trademark against a corporation in the US?
My initial superficial impressions of Melbourne gave way quickly as I visited the amazing Queen Victoria Market (I heard a local refer to it as "the Vic") and walked around the city. Whenever I travel, I'm most fascinated by evidence of cultural exchange. Japan, and Tokyo in particular, felt like a culture clash on several occasions. Melbourne felt like a true cultural mashup. Given its geography, history, demographics, and politics, it's no surprise that Australia felt familiar and exotic at the same time. I explored this reality over the course of my two week visit down under.
Friday, November 07, 2008
President 2.0
Over the last two years, there has been a tremendous amount written about the forces or trends that came together--or perhaps it's fair to say that President-elect Obama harnessed--on election night earlier this week. Here are a few ideas that I haven't seen discussed extensively:
Howard Dean's role in Obama's victory. Dean's 50 state strategy paid very handsome dividends in this election, both for Obama and the Democrats in general. But it was the combination of this strategy with the means to extend one's reach that proved most powerful. Dean's strategy of tapping into internet-based fundraising in 2004 was visionary. Obama clearly took this to the next level. In addition to fundraising, so-called Web 2.0 technologies have proven to be a powerful, alternative news medium and communication channel. Obama's advertisements on XBox Live as compared to McCain's statement about trying "a Google" speaks volumes about their respective understanding of building community in this age--and controlling one's image. Remember George Allen in 2006? The mainstream media in 2004 contributed to destroying Howard Dean's image with the incessant playing and replaying of the video of his infamous scream.
Is it a coincidence that Obama seemingly went out of his way to keep his cool throughout the campaign?
I have no doubt that the same mainstream media that continuously questioned whether Obama was "too cool" would have chewed him up if he had one of those "Dean scream" moments during the campaign. Obama's impressive management of both mainstream and new media was critical toward his victory.
John Edwards' role in Obama's victory. His "two Americas" theme eventually gained enough traction to become one of the major themes in this campaign, ultimately manifesting itself as the "Wall Street" vs. "Main Street" comparison. Obama's choice of $250k as the dividing line was somewhat risky, but it turned out to be a figure that worked for most people (please, don't mention Joe the Plumber). During the Democratic primaries, when Edwards challenged his fellow candidates to forgo financial support from lobbyists--and Hillary Clinton refused--it gave Obama an important point of leverage. It's too bad Edwards' personal choices were not as thoughtful. It's also too bad that the candidates didn't seem to embrace Kussinich's challenge to forgo financial support from hedge funds.
Henry Paulson's (albeit inadvertent) role in Obama's victory. Paulson's decision to let Lehmann Brothers fail and then react with the $700 billion bailout "proposal" (one Congressman apparently pointed out that at 3 pages, Paulson was asking for about $1 billion a word through his original document) started the cascading series of events that showed everyone the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Would we have noticed if Lehmann Brothers had been bailed out? Might the charade have continued long enough to last through election day?
No doubt that mistakes or ill-advised strategies of the McCain/Palin camp contributed to Obama's victory. I don't want to dwell on those mistakes. Perhaps I'm embracing President-elect Obama's urging to move past our differences. But I can't resist returning to one point in particular. The idea of "real America" (in this respect, perhaps George Allen could be thought of as a "visionary"). Consider the following results (as of Friday, November 7):
Obama: 364 electoral college votes and 65,319,143 popular votes
McCain: 163 electoral college votes and 57,349,323 popular votes
There's your real America. Your United States of America.
In the end, of course, no one deserves more credit for his victory than Obama himself. He built on strong foundations established by his predecessors and colleagues, engaged and energized the community through new means, appreciated the complexities of our economic crisis, persisted with the message of a unified country, and spoke eloquently with accessible, inspiring words. No one can know whether he possesses the considerable talents, skills, and leadership we will need to navigate the rough seas ahead. But anyone who ran this type of campaign certainly inspires hope.
Howard Dean's role in Obama's victory. Dean's 50 state strategy paid very handsome dividends in this election, both for Obama and the Democrats in general. But it was the combination of this strategy with the means to extend one's reach that proved most powerful. Dean's strategy of tapping into internet-based fundraising in 2004 was visionary. Obama clearly took this to the next level. In addition to fundraising, so-called Web 2.0 technologies have proven to be a powerful, alternative news medium and communication channel. Obama's advertisements on XBox Live as compared to McCain's statement about trying "a Google" speaks volumes about their respective understanding of building community in this age--and controlling one's image. Remember George Allen in 2006? The mainstream media in 2004 contributed to destroying Howard Dean's image with the incessant playing and replaying of the video of his infamous scream.
Is it a coincidence that Obama seemingly went out of his way to keep his cool throughout the campaign?
I have no doubt that the same mainstream media that continuously questioned whether Obama was "too cool" would have chewed him up if he had one of those "Dean scream" moments during the campaign. Obama's impressive management of both mainstream and new media was critical toward his victory.
John Edwards' role in Obama's victory. His "two Americas" theme eventually gained enough traction to become one of the major themes in this campaign, ultimately manifesting itself as the "Wall Street" vs. "Main Street" comparison. Obama's choice of $250k as the dividing line was somewhat risky, but it turned out to be a figure that worked for most people (please, don't mention Joe the Plumber). During the Democratic primaries, when Edwards challenged his fellow candidates to forgo financial support from lobbyists--and Hillary Clinton refused--it gave Obama an important point of leverage. It's too bad Edwards' personal choices were not as thoughtful. It's also too bad that the candidates didn't seem to embrace Kussinich's challenge to forgo financial support from hedge funds.
Henry Paulson's (albeit inadvertent) role in Obama's victory. Paulson's decision to let Lehmann Brothers fail and then react with the $700 billion bailout "proposal" (one Congressman apparently pointed out that at 3 pages, Paulson was asking for about $1 billion a word through his original document) started the cascading series of events that showed everyone the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Would we have noticed if Lehmann Brothers had been bailed out? Might the charade have continued long enough to last through election day?
No doubt that mistakes or ill-advised strategies of the McCain/Palin camp contributed to Obama's victory. I don't want to dwell on those mistakes. Perhaps I'm embracing President-elect Obama's urging to move past our differences. But I can't resist returning to one point in particular. The idea of "real America" (in this respect, perhaps George Allen could be thought of as a "visionary"). Consider the following results (as of Friday, November 7):
Obama: 364 electoral college votes and 65,319,143 popular votes
McCain: 163 electoral college votes and 57,349,323 popular votes
There's your real America. Your United States of America.
In the end, of course, no one deserves more credit for his victory than Obama himself. He built on strong foundations established by his predecessors and colleagues, engaged and energized the community through new means, appreciated the complexities of our economic crisis, persisted with the message of a unified country, and spoke eloquently with accessible, inspiring words. No one can know whether he possesses the considerable talents, skills, and leadership we will need to navigate the rough seas ahead. But anyone who ran this type of campaign certainly inspires hope.
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