Obama's common sense

When the president of the richest and most powerful country on earth says something, it gets noticed. Political opponents and critics may dismiss it as a profane remark or something that is ‘politically correct’, but all the same, it does not go unnoticed.

Especially when the remark is so practical and down to earth, it adds to the aura and charm of his high office. In a recent interview to a media outlet, President Barack Obama of the US has said that he and his wife Michelle are constantly reminding their two daughters that they are living in a “slightly unreal environment” in the White House.

When he says that the girls’ present life is “ not the norm”, he is reminding them that all the power, opulence, grandeur, glamour and affluence of the presidential office is not permanent, but will have to be foregone once he demits office. He goes on to deride the change in lifestyle, from one of simplicity to a consumptive pattern with a focus on celebrity lifestyles, what so- and – so is wearing, where so- and – so celebrity is going for a holiday and worse, emulating them in the belief that this is a marker of their success.

Obama goes on to remind his daughters that they have relatives who are in the middle class and even ‘ poor’ category and lead lives of struggle.

When it is natural for the man to get carried away by even small achievements and material successes, to see a man in the hotseat of power in the entire world being so level headed as to realise the transience of power and wealth is heartening, to say the least.  Maybe his modest background and upbringing have their influence here. Not to be forgotten are his quiet and ordinary days as a law student.

Still, the White House tends to whitewash earlier memories to put on a façade of comfort and happiness, as if the residents are ‘ to the manner born’.  But, Obama seems to refuse to be taken in by all the appendages of power.  When he retires, he will surely go with a package that other lesser mortals will  swoon at.

The lecture circuit for retired US presidents is a lucrative engagement, bringing in the greenbucks more than generously. And Obama surely has his law practice to fall back on. Perhaps as an expert on international trade laws or Middle Eastern politics.

Or as a board member of the Bank of America. All of it would surely sustain an almost equivalent lifestyle. Why bother then to warn the young girls that all good things will come to an end eventually? Why not make hay when the sun is shining? That is the intriguing part. One suspects that this is maybe because he is an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. And has been influenced by their frugality and common sense. Whatever it is, for a man in the cockpit of the hedonistic capital of the world, to even think of such things is bewildering. Especially to one in India!