Another day, another Barack Obama inspired post. What can I say – I use what I have, and what I have in this, Inguration week, is fully Obama-fied.

While I was reading yet another article on Barack Obama’s historic, change-bringing presidency, a thought struck me – and struck me hard. We are told to ‘Be the Change’. While I and oh, a couple of million of people, whole-heatedly agree, I don’t think any one of us realize just how hard this is going to be.

Just think about this simple example. What kind of change will it take for the economy to improve? The last couple of years – and especially the last couple of months –  seemed to have been about a series of ‘patch-up’ steps taken around the world to fix the way our international machinery is operating. Is this what ‘be the change’ means?

If we are going to ‘be the change’, shouldn’t we rather forget about fixing the current system? Wouldn’t we rather reflect on all the places it went wrong, then create a whole new one in its stead?

And how else could such a fundamental shift happen if every single one of us doesn’t rise up to ‘be the change’? After all, as consumers, we hold the power. Granted, in hard economic times, our power significantly decreases, but it’s still ours. If we choose to buy the plentiful cheap and disposable items that we are sold, why wouldn’t corporations make them?

But what if we all ‘be the change’ and refuse to buy these items that serve only to pollute our environment and perpetuate poverty in the case of items made in terribly filthy and almost inhumane factories? If every person in North America stood up and said I am going to ‘be the change’ and chose instead to buy less quantity and more quality, what a powerful message that would send to the corporations.

We are lead to believe that power belongs to a couple of individuals at the top who decide of the fates of the billions ‘little’ individuals at the bottom. But this is not the case. Barack Obama, perhaps more than any modern day US President, knows of the power of mobilization. The United States of America now have a leader that will listen to them; they have a leader not only open to change, but eager for it. It seems like the perfect time to seize the chance and make it happen. The future will judge us harshly if we don’t.