American Meme

President Barak Obama’s second inaugural address as the 44th president of the United States was a speech with hope for the future. There are many changes he hopes to make such as to help stop global warming, gun control, enactment of immigration reform and true equality for all. In addition, the president assured to keep alliances strong, to make an economic recovery, and to end all war. President Obama refers to many American memes which are commonly held beliefs. President Obama also makes many historical references which is using a tool of common persuasion. Obama also uses political bias and persuasion that deals with the broad issues. Obama uses the quote from the constitution “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” He uses this quote to show what our founding fathers envisioned for humanity. A life with no constrictions, no racism just freedom and equality. Although this meme does exist it’s not necessarily true as Obama states “While these truths might be self-evident, they have never been self-executing.” Another meme Obama recites is “We the people still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.” America is known for being the land of the free. People travel here from all over the world in hopes of starting a new life. Obama supports this by stating “They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.” In other words our founding fathers fought for us to give us freedom and it is our job to protect and keep it. Another meme Obama states is “We the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.” One of Obama’s primary focuses in his new term is hope for the future. Not only does he want to make a strong economic recovery for us but for the future generations of this country. In addition he wants to create laws to combat global warming and climate change. Obama asserts “knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” America has always been for and by the people and by not conserving now we will hurt the imminent. Obama also states “peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.” All these memes have one thing in common is the creed that all men are created equal. Throughout the president’s speech, he connects historical references to the present and how they are still used today. For example Obama says “Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.” The president refers to the progressive era and how laissez-faire, a doctrine opposing government interference in the economy except to maintain law and order. Another historical reference Obama makes is the war with Iraq. He says “A decade of war is now ending, an economic recovery has begun.” This was a turning point in history that shocked America. Terrorism had killed over five thousand innocent civilians. Today we take precaution when letting people enter and exit the country. However killing Osama Bin Laden was a great accomplishment for the president and our troops. The country still needs to be protected as Obama says “That while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.” Also President Obama refers to Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation by saying “No union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free.” Even though the proclamation freed slaves, they still aren’t considered equal in the eyes of America. President Obama’s edge to help him win the election was his bias on gays. He passed the don’t ask don’t tell act in December 2011 to protect military personnel from being harassed or discriminated. One year later, Obama passed the same-sex marriage to be legal however it is the state’s option to legalize it. He states in his speech “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” Recently due to the tragedy in Newtown Connecticut president Obama has now opposed gun laws. Over twenty innocent children with bright futures ahead of them were killed because of an automatic weapon. In addition brave teachers were killed because they wanted to save the children. President Obama states “Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.” Although there is no way to completely get rid of guns, president Obama has passed gun control laws and is doing everything in his will power to stop tragedies like this from happening again. America has a lot of common held beliefs or memes. Some might not be seen in the eyes of the people even though it is written in the constitution that all men are created equal. However President Obama is doing a remarkable job to help his beliefs or political bias in becoming equal. He uses the historical references from the emancipation proclamation, the constitution, and other important historical documents as a tool of common persuasion. In conclusion all men and women are not equal even though they are not that different, and the law says they are. We must work every day to actually make every one equal not in just the eyes of God but in the eyes of ever American.