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Whenthinkingaboutthetexttobechosenforanalysis,manyideascametomind.On
onehand,Iwantedtochooseahistoricaltext,becauseIthoughtitmightshedlighton
therhetoricbeingusedtoday.Ontheotherhand,Iwantedtochooseacontemporary
millenniumrhetoricanditsXXIcenturyproblemswiththeunderpinningideasofour
country.
Granted,IamnotwellaquatintedwithmanyhistoricalUSpolicies/events,
howeverIhavefoundmyselfnotonlybeingseducedbybutalsocompelledtolearnU.S
history. U.Shistoryisnotonlyinteresting,butIdiscoveredthatbyunderstandingit,
onecanconsequentlycognizemanyunderpinningsofglobalrelationstoday.
AfterconsideringmylackofknowledgeonU.Shistory,mytopicsofinterest,and
myfavorite/leastfavoritepeopleinU.Spolitics,IconcludedthatIwantedtoanalyzea
StateoftheUnionAddress.ThereasonIchoseaSOTUisbecauseitiswhentheU.S
president has a date/meeting with the people of the United States. It is when the
Presidenttalkswithusabouthisideas,ideals,fearsandvisionforthefuture.Personally,
IthinkthattheSOTUisabeautifultradition,becausethePresidentdoesmuchmore
thanjustreleasingacoldandhardgovernancereport.IwillbeanalyzingtheStateof
the Union Address made President Barack Obama in January of 2016 real
contemporary,right?
Now,Iknowwhatyouareprobablythinking;Julia,thatspeechwasliterally
givenayearago.Granted,itisafairlynewspeech,butthe2015SOTUisthefirsttime
aPresidentutteredwordsliketransgenderandinstagram.Itwillbeinterestingto
analyzeaspeechofthePresidentwhohassosubtlyredefinedthetraditionalroleof
POTUS.
Iwouldliketostartbyanalyzingthefollowingparagraph:
Today,wearetheonlyadvancedcountryonEarththatdoesntguaranteepaidsick
leaveorpaidmaternityleavetoourworkers.Fortythreemillionworkershavenopaid
sickleave43million.Thinkaboutthat.Andthatforcestoomanyparentstomake
thegutwrenchingchoicebetweenapaycheckandasickkidathome. (TheWhite
HouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.2015)
The idea of liberalism is very vague here, but let us analyze for a moment. The
foundationalideasofliberalismarefreedomandequality.Whereisequalityifnotallof
usascitizenshavepaidsickleave?Wherecanwefindfreedomifwehavetochoose
betweengoingtoworkandtakingcareofonessickchild?Thedefinitionoffreedom
accordingtoMerriamWebsteris:theabsenceofnecessity,coercion,orconstraintin
presenthere.
Letusemphasizetheideaofliberalismbeingpresentbyaddingthefollowingsentence:
SoIllbetakingnewactiontohelpstatesadoptpaidleavelawsoftheirown.(The
White House Office of the Press Secretary. 2015) That is liberalism because the
presidenthimselfwilltakeactioninordertoachieveequality.
On this paragraph we can see the idea of social contract and liberalism
intertwinedwitheachother. DuringWorldWarII,whenmenlikemygrandfather
wentofftowar,havingwomenlikemygrandmotherintheworkforcewasanational
securityprioritysothiscountryprovideduniversalchildcare.Intodayseconomy,
whenhavingbothparentsintheworkforceisaneconomicnecessityformanyfamilies,
weneedaffordable,highqualitychildcaremorethanever.(TheWhiteHouseOffice
ofthePressSecretary.2015)Thenotionofsocialcontractisveryclearhere,whilstthe
womenhelpedwithnationalsecuritythegovernmentprovidednotonlythetraditional
Now,wecanseeliberalismbecausenoindividualpersongottochoosewhetherthey
wanted universal childcare or not. Universal childcare was given on the basis of
achievingfreedom.Freedomforthewomentogooutandworkwithouthavingtoworry
aboutleavingtheirchildrenunattended,withintheframeworkofthesocialcontractat
thattime.
Letuslookatthisparagraph:Whenwemakerashdecisions,reactingtotheheadlines
insteadofusingourheads;whenthefirstresponsetoachallengeistosendinour
military then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts, and neglect the
broaderstrategyweneedforasafer,moreprosperousworld.Thatswhatourenemies
wantustodo.(TheWhiteHouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.2015)Thisparagraph
weapons.Albeititalsoacknowledgesthatifprovokedbyourenemieswewilltogoto
war and act irrationally, all in order to protect our allies and ourselves, a perfect
exampleofrealismandwar.
ThecontinuationtothisparagraphbetterexplainswhatIjuststated:Welead
bestwhenwecombinemilitarypowerwithstrongdiplomacy;whenweleverageour
powerwithcoalitionbuilding;whenwedontletourfearsblindustotheopportunities
thatthisnewcenturypresents. (TheWhiteHouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.
2015)Itclearlystatesthatweinourcountryfavordiplomacy,butneverwillweleave
our military power too far behind. The latter paragraph is a perfect portrait of the
country.
Lookingtothefutureinsteadofthepast.Makingsurewematchourpowerwith
diplomacy, and use force wisely. Building coalitions to meet new challenges and
opportunities.Leadingalwayswiththeexampleofourvalues.Thatswhatmakes
holdourselvestothehighestofstandardsourown.(TheWhiteHouseOfficeof
thePressSecretary.2015)ThisisAmericanexceptionalism.Ihonestlythinkthatthere
isnotmuchexplainingtodo.Ourvaluesarewhatmakesandkeepsusstrong,andour
standards/valuesarethehighestofthemall.
AsaconclusionIwouldliketostatethatourfoundingpillarshavenotchanged,
westilllivebythevisionthatourfoundingfatherhadforus.Theonlythingthathas
changedisthatmanyofthecontextshaveeitherevolvedorchangedcompletely.Itis
interestinghowPOTUSideastheideasthatwereanalyzedareliberal,andlowthe
wordliberalchangesmeaningfromcountrytocountryanderatoera.Onethingthat
caughtmyeye,andthatIamstillponderingisthefactthatourmilitarywillalways
haveanimportantroleinmanyaspectsofourlivesasUScitizens.P.BarackObama,in
thisspeechparticularly,hasproventobealiberal,yes,butaliberalthatiswillingto
workwithallideologies.Ifindthatthisspeechisaspeechthatmanypeoplecanrelate
to.
Lastly,IwouldliketosaysomethingaboutAmericanexeptionalism.Asakid,I
remember being taught American exeptionalism by stories and songs. I hope this
traditionorideologyneverceasestoexist.
Webography
https://www.whitehouse.gov/thepressoffice/2016/01/12/remarkspresidentbarack
obamaprepareddeliverystateunionaddress(AccessedMarch,17th,18th,19th,2016).
MerriamWebsterDefinitionofFreedom.MerriamWebster.com.
http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/freedom(AccessedMarch19th,2016).