On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Integral Life asked several former Integral Life and Integral Naked guests to share their impressions of this historic election—and here they are!
I suggest you to read below the Ken Wilber impressions published in the website:
“There probably hasn’t been as much rampantly enthusiastic idealism surrounding a president since the election of John F. Kennedy than there is around Barack Obama. In the Integral community, this naturally translates into the question, “Is Obama Integral?”
I have put off responding to this question until now, first, because I didn’t want to get involved in active politics (because there is as yet no Integral Politics in place), but second (and over-riding the first), I don’t think we’ve have enough genuine information to tell. Notice, for example, that a major watchdog organization ranked Obama in the top 1 or 2 most liberal senators in Congress—hardly a badge of integral inclusiveness.
And yet, particularly as the campaign progressed, Obama began making increasingly Integral-sounding pronouncements. In fact, an Integral analysis of his acceptance speech by Corey deVos and Clint Fuhs showed a genuinely high percentage of Integrally-comprehensive language and ideas (especially compared to the other candidates). It seems, in fact, that somewhere during the campaign itself, Obama went from green exit (the pluralistic stage of development, with its inherently high liberalism) to initial teal Integral waves (the first Integral stages of development, with inherent Integrally-oriented political stances). Increasingly his language and his values systems seemed to shift, right before one’s eyes, into Integral spaces.
It is, of course, still too soon to make a solid judgment about this, but it seems safe to say that Barack Obama is likely moving into truly Integral waves of development and therefore beginning to evidence truly Integral values and positions. Combined with his already significantly developed states (which gives the very notable Radiance and Presence to his being), this means we might very well be seeing, certainly for the first time in this century, a truly Integrally-oriented President of the United States. In this climate of possibility, reigns the intense idealism and sense of promise that this new President brings with him: the hope and promise that a new tomorrow is truly possible, and that it is beginning now, right now. If so, this is indeed a genuinely historical moment, when Integral consciousness has actually descended in and through the voice and vision of the most powerful person on the planet. We are truly beginning to enter the Integral Age, and Barack Obama’s voice might be the most notable and important Integral voice in the political arena. How can we know for sure? Stay tuned!”
Versione Italiana
Forget about their individual personal styles, analysing whether someone is “Integral” or not through the language they use. Find me a political leader that has the guts to say no to all bailouts, and to honesty tell the public “we’ve been living off borrowed money that we clearly can never be honestly good for at this point, our whole economy is basically a giant Ponzi scheme and maybe that’s why our economy is in such a mess”, then maybe I will consider looking at style as a measure of vertical evolution.
Charisma is different from radiance is it not? The proof of integral insight is the quality of decisions. The president is gifted at sounding as if he wants a third way, but he seems to have a propensity to demonize business (orange/modern) expressions at every opportunity in a truly green fashion that promotes its own way while encouraging those with other ways to prepare to suffer. Why is suffering and sacrifice always the answer? What about engagement in order to produce real value in the economy rather than simply recuing victims of one stripe or another ? An encrusted green mentality packaged in a charismatic delivery mechanism is inherently difficult to spot and can be ultimately more dangerous than an entire congress full of like-individuals because of the power and lack of check and balances during the honeymoon period. Intelligence and ability to factor many variables also appears like the ability to conjure integral solutions at first. The president’s obvious manipulation of the public emotion in pursuit of his own agenda does not betray a new vision of possibility but looks suspiciously like the european vision of green that has already run its course in its own context. Are these truly ideas whose time has come or gone? Where is the American version of the future built on the unique qualifications and drives which Americans respond to.