My uncle loves to send out mass emails with jokes, warnings, videos, etc. Its his way of staying in touch. I know that he means well and sends them out of love, so I try to take them as that. It can be hard to remember and appreciate them for that, as they come from an entirely different vantage point then I am often exposed to, surrounded as I often am by a liberal, urbane crowd. Almost all of them share something in common, something my uncle can't see but I, looking in from the outside, can: fear. They are all about being afraid of the world, in someway. Its hard, because I don't think of my uncle in that way at all. He is very outgoing, loud, gregarious, and very much the joker and entertainer of the family. However, his forwards are all about things to watch out for (terrorists, scams, missing children, etc) or cliche prayers, etc, which in their own way are kind of about fear too- the fear of losing something, or the fear of change.

He just sent out an email with a Budweiser commercial that was developed post 9/11, and only aired once. It was interesting in a way, because it was about heroes, and the note my uncle sent with it was about how it "made his heart flutter". I was originally going to write this posting about the commodification of the hero, but I think there is something deeper then that there. Budweiser, very astutely, tapped into that fear that so many people have around the world, and turned it into a powerful force- the awe of a hero, or heroine. There have been very few role models in the world to look up to in the last decade or so, and a lot of corruptions, a lot of fallen heroes. That is why Obama is such a hit, that is why the story of the airplane being guided into the Hudson safely gave so many people goosebumps, myself included, and it is why this commerical got to my uncle. In the past decade I think we've been in such need of a hero or heroine to look up to that the country almost blindly elevated people to that role who didn't deserve it, such as Bush or even Bernie Madolf to some extent. It could also be part of the reason extremism is on the rise globally- people are in search of someone to look up to, to inspire us to be better in some way.

Obama tapped into that with his campaign of hope, but I think in order to hope we need a hero, an inspiration, a role model. Obama has become that, and hopefully he can continue to fill those shoes, because where one goes more will follow. I hope that we won't follow blindly, but, if deserved, we will follow, be inspired, and in our turn inspire. Kai, you in particular have asked before if its selfish to just live your life, do something that makes you happy even if its not "saving the world" or the like. I think that ties in here very well. I think if you live your life in a way that inspires those around you to be better people, then you are making a positive contribution to the world. I use the word "better" rather then "good" because I agree with the last paragraph of Lauren's last post; I think aspiring to be better is more practically applicable then the very slippery concept of "good", and though they are very intertwined "better" is a more quantifiable concept that is easier to debate with the masses, and get them to move forward on.

Anyways, I've ended a ways from where I began, but here is the commercial that started the train.