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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A Promised Land is a book that is constantly fighting itself. It is perfectly titled and summarized in the preface where Obama acknowledges that there are those that want to “discard the myth” of America and be honest about the founding and history of the Nation as one of rapacious Capitalism and subjugation. He decides that this is not his path, in a rather roundabout way, by saying he instead chooses to focus on “the possibility of America”. The purpose of this admission has a clear and stated purpose: he is speaking to a young audience that is interested in politics. However, Obama’s view not only of politics but of America are falling out of fashion. In order to convince young Americans to continue in his political tradition he must relate to their understandings of America’s extremely flawed and troubled history while promoting an idealism that brought him to power in the first place.
I read this book out of interest in understanding Obama’s worldview and his understanding of our political system from the man himself, but much of my curiosity stemmed from his public statements and actions since he left office. Obama has spent much of the last four years railing against the American left, convincing America that policies like Medicare for All are not realistic and has been generally working to preserve his own legacy even if it means being particularly pessimistic about the possibility to make large changes to America’s economic and political systems. In recent days, he has attacked the policy of defunding the police, calling it nothing more than a snappy slogan that loses voters. These are strong words from a man that posits himself in this book as more of an activist at his core than a politician. This is of course the man that phoned Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar right before Super Tuesday, convincing them to drop out and rally behind the moderate with the best chance to gain the Democratic Nomination, his former VP Joe Biden. So I went into this book believing it would be a clear view into the reflections of a president working to preserve his legacy while also making himself out to be nothing more than a sort of every man that against all odds became the most powerful man on earth. Well written and obviously full of heart and passion, A Promised Land reads like the contradiction that his presidency turned out to be: a plea to continue to believe in the promise of America while promoting “realism” and compromises with the devil in the face of national and global disaster.
What I came away with was the belief that Obama did a great job of turning his reflections into a rather convincing manifesto of sorts, a piece of wisdom passed down to the American public as an antidote to the Trump era. I have no doubt the vast majority of people that read this book will come away refreshed and hopeful for a renewed America. After all, many of the main characters of this book will once again be in the White House come 2021. But I feel, and maybe this is just confirmation bias, that my ideas of Obama ended up being true. His focus on incremental change and sticking with the status quo over radical changes to the economic and social order of America come across loud and clear. What makes this realization hard to swallow is how much Obama works to cover up his centrism. He constantly concedes the points of more Leftist activists and organizations while ultimately going with the more moderate options. He is able to show his heart while promoting an incremental approach to change that is rooted in bipartisanship, even though it is clear as soon as he is in office that the Republicans would under no circumstances help his major agenda items.
It’s time to take Obama for what he is: a Centrist that plays on the hopes and dreams of average Americans in order to provide moderate fixes to ever worsening problems. He tries to make himself out to be much more than that in this book, but his facade needs to end. When someone shows you who they really are you need to believe them.
I read this book out of interest in understanding Obama’s worldview and his understanding of our political system from the man himself, but much of my curiosity stemmed from his public statements and actions since he left office. Obama has spent much of the last four years railing against the American left, convincing America that policies like Medicare for All are not realistic and has been generally working to preserve his own legacy even if it means being particularly pessimistic about the possibility to make large changes to America’s economic and political systems. In recent days, he has attacked the policy of defunding the police, calling it nothing more than a snappy slogan that loses voters. These are strong words from a man that posits himself in this book as more of an activist at his core than a politician. This is of course the man that phoned Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar right before Super Tuesday, convincing them to drop out and rally behind the moderate with the best chance to gain the Democratic Nomination, his former VP Joe Biden. So I went into this book believing it would be a clear view into the reflections of a president working to preserve his legacy while also making himself out to be nothing more than a sort of every man that against all odds became the most powerful man on earth. Well written and obviously full of heart and passion, A Promised Land reads like the contradiction that his presidency turned out to be: a plea to continue to believe in the promise of America while promoting “realism” and compromises with the devil in the face of national and global disaster.
What I came away with was the belief that Obama did a great job of turning his reflections into a rather convincing manifesto of sorts, a piece of wisdom passed down to the American public as an antidote to the Trump era. I have no doubt the vast majority of people that read this book will come away refreshed and hopeful for a renewed America. After all, many of the main characters of this book will once again be in the White House come 2021. But I feel, and maybe this is just confirmation bias, that my ideas of Obama ended up being true. His focus on incremental change and sticking with the status quo over radical changes to the economic and social order of America come across loud and clear. What makes this realization hard to swallow is how much Obama works to cover up his centrism. He constantly concedes the points of more Leftist activists and organizations while ultimately going with the more moderate options. He is able to show his heart while promoting an incremental approach to change that is rooted in bipartisanship, even though it is clear as soon as he is in office that the Republicans would under no circumstances help his major agenda items.
It’s time to take Obama for what he is: a Centrist that plays on the hopes and dreams of average Americans in order to provide moderate fixes to ever worsening problems. He tries to make himself out to be much more than that in this book, but his facade needs to end. When someone shows you who they really are you need to believe them.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I went into this book with a strong sense of admiration for President Obama beforehand, and while I expected it to happen, that sense only grew stronger.
I think it's really hard to summarize this book — and it should be — because his first term as president was, frankly, fucking exhausting (I want so badly to buy this man a DRINK after reading this). And what I learned most from this book was this fact: It takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to not only be an effective political leader, but an admirable one as well. It's not easy, and change doesn't happen overnight even in the highest office in the world. BUT — with all that courage and sacrifice, the memorable presidents are the ones that value humanity, and kindness and intelligence.
I had a lot of favorite parts of this book, from learning about his past, his family, and his quirks. I also really enjoyed how he made intense political topics understandable for readers, particularly the Israel and Palestine conflict. I loved that he read constituent letters everyday. He is, without a doubt, a good person.
I do wish I'd ignored my aversion to audio/e-books though, because it took me a bit to crack through this and I did feel myself skimming at some parts (sorry to the economic section). With the second volume, I'll definitely go with an audiobook. I can't wait.
I think it's really hard to summarize this book — and it should be — because his first term as president was, frankly, fucking exhausting (I want so badly to buy this man a DRINK after reading this). And what I learned most from this book was this fact: It takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to not only be an effective political leader, but an admirable one as well. It's not easy, and change doesn't happen overnight even in the highest office in the world. BUT — with all that courage and sacrifice, the memorable presidents are the ones that value humanity, and kindness and intelligence.
I had a lot of favorite parts of this book, from learning about his past, his family, and his quirks. I also really enjoyed how he made intense political topics understandable for readers, particularly the Israel and Palestine conflict. I loved that he read constituent letters everyday. He is, without a doubt, a good person.
I do wish I'd ignored my aversion to audio/e-books though, because it took me a bit to crack through this and I did feel myself skimming at some parts (sorry to the economic section). With the second volume, I'll definitely go with an audiobook. I can't wait.
informative
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
If it wasn't Barack himself reading the book I wouldn't have finished. I could just listen to his voice all day long.
informative
reflective
medium-paced