In an otherwise sombre start to the year Barack Obama's final speech has been a shining light. He celebrated what he saw as the successes of his administration without sneering at his political opponents. He spoke graciously and decently, and evoked hope for the future.
He also described in broad terms the current discontents of the United States and how they might be addressed. He acknowledged the growing inequality of wealth and the burdens that are disproportionately carried by those least able to do so. He also recognised that, if left unchecked, rising inequality and impoverishment will spread as technological change both increases wealth and leaves more people unemployed or underemployed.
In his speech Obama's main concern was the threat that these trends pose to democracy. They arouse widespread anger and polarisation, leading different groups in society to regard one another as enemies and to refuse to engage civilly with one another.
This in turn leads to isolation: people surround themselves with others who share their opinions, shut out the voices of those who differ from them, and assume that their opponents are in bad faith. Their political action is then directed solely at addressing the interests and perceived injustices suffered by their group, with no vision of a broader good within which their interests might be negotiated and accommodated.
This fragmentation of the reaction against the injustices of economic globalisation ensures that inequality and the burdens it imposes on impoverished groups will deepen. Governments will remain complicit in maintaining an unjust economic order. They also become more authoritarian and direct the anger at the injustices of globalisation against unfavoured minorities.
Disaffection then grows, leading to further alienation and further protest. In this increasingly pressured society democracy is the loser.
Obama's remedy is to strengthen the underpinnings of democracy through social engagement and a shared commitment to the common good. This requires entering into the shoes of other citizens. He offers graphic examples:
'For native-born Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, and Italians, and Poles — who it was said we're going to destroy the fundamental character of America ...
"Obama's remedy is to strengthen the underpinnings of democracy through social engagement and a shared commitment to the common good. This requires entering into the shoes of other citizens."
'For blacks and other minority groups, it means tying our own very real struggles for justice