On Sunday evening at the annual Golden Globes award ceremony in Los Angeles, Oprah won hearts and minds with a rousing speech about speaking truth to power and advancing the position of women in society.
It was an objectively powerful oration, and social media was promptly flooded with calls for Oprah to be the country’s next president. The newfound Oprah 2020 campaign drew support not only from NBC News, which eventually deleted a tweet referring to her as “our future president,” but also famous neoconservative war hawk Bill Kristol, who unleashed a Twitter storm of support for the beloved American icon.
Oprah did rightly speak out against the 2003 Iraq war (though Kristol claims, partially correctly, that she supported regime change), and as an individual, she is a wonderful example of human connection, kindness, and compassion. But her political thought process remains entrenched in many of the same problems that have created the dire national situation and international political crises the United States now faces.
During the 2016 election, Oprah made it clear she supported Hillary Clinton, even if she wasn’t her most enthusiastic backer. “You don’t have to like her,” she urged voters as she warned against the dangers of a Trump presidency. She supported Barack Obama in both of his presidential campaigns, placing herself squarely in the spectrum of mainstream political ideology.
But more important than the need to break away from his left-right, two-party paradigm is the need for people to stop relying on a leader to rule over them altogether. This mentality has given us Donald Trump, and it has disempowered individuals not only from taking control over their own lives but also working to improve society as a whole.
Placing our hopes for civilization and fates in the hand of another person — even Oprah — by putting them at the head of government perpetuates the mentality that we can’t support ourselves, instead opting to outsource our own responsibility to an external control system. Further, doing so is yet another exercise in imposing views on others who do not have an opportunity to consent. The very same people cheering Oprah’s potential candidacy are outraged at Donald Trump’s presidency, populating a resistance movement that insists he is “not [their] president.” Would they also respect the views of others who don’t want Oprah (or Obama or Hillary or anyone else) as their president?
I never consented to Donald Trump’s presidency, and I won’t consent to Oprah. And chasing solutions from a corrupted system that has served to exploit people around the world while perpetuating extraordinary violence and instability isn’t the solution, anyway.
We would do far better to actively work to free ourselves from this system by investing in cryptocurrencies to undermine financial institutions’ hegemony, growing our own food to undermine Big Agriculture, choosing to use alternative forms of energy to avoid state-sanctioned sources that destroy the environment, and donating our time and resources to organizations and individuals that need it. We could even grind this system of perpetual war, corporate welfare, and increasingly authoritarian law enforcement to a halt by simply refusing to fund it.
History has shown that electing a person to solve our society’s problems, rather than confronting them ourselves, not only fails to fix them but also almost always manages to make them worse.
Perhaps we should respect each other’s individual freedom to not be ruled over by someone of our choosing, instead deciding to lift each other up ourselves rather than expecting a violent institution to do it for us.
Rather than wanting to forcibly impose Oprah as an authority figure over hundreds of millions of people, perhaps we should simply strive to be like Oprah — to empower ourselves to escape staggering circumstances, to be kind to others, and to give as much as we can to those in need.
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Oprah's support of Hillary Clinton speaks volumes. Oprah was either too ignorant or just didn't care about Hillary's crimes! The last thing America needs is another Hollyweird fake personality as a head of state.
I am not to sure I believe in the whole, nobody for president mentality.
A lot of people are dumb. They don't pay attention to the world around them. They just live THEIR lives and don't care at all to what the actual truth is around them. Not to mention the cognitive dissonance that everybody deals with.
Who would choose new laws then? The cognitive dissonant Americans that have no idea what they actually want because they can't help but trust idiota, on both sides, instead of making their own decisions?
I basically fear the ignorance of people.
Most of the people you're referring to were carefully groomed to be ignorant, apathetic, and submissive to authority, by the system itself, because without people like that the system cannot survive, much less grow as it has been for centuries.
Stop letting government shape the minds of children, and watch how quickly the generations get smarter and more mindful.
I have recently been of the opinion that perhaps teaching philosophy in school could be a benefit to having people open their minds and be more accepting of different opinions.
I think it is ridiculous that it is currently not taught. Philosophy is a wonderful tool for an individual to read, experience, and grow to form their own opinions of the world around them.
Going to this point, I think we would have to build the new generation first before changing the way the system votes. (If that even makes sense.) :P
Oh god no, thats the last thing we need. "Nobody for president" - Love it!
When you have the neocons supporting someone, you know you should run. I'm with you, Nobody for President. We can, and do, take care of ourselves.
Depends, is the question "what will ruin Liz Warren's shot at the DNC nomination?"
I also support NOBODY FOR PRESIDENT! I don't think we really even need a representative democracy anymore. We can represent ourselves.
Oh Billy Kristol. He doesn't care about Trump being any of those things as long as he signs off on Bill's wars for Israel.
As much as I hate politics and everything to do with a group of people cloying to be the next master, I must admit that it would be kind of fun to see Oprah run for president. If only to see the left suddenly be in favor of a TV star candidate with political experience.
What a world we live in now. You are right! Very interesting, insightful post. I am very curious to watch what happens in your country over the next 12 years and beyond.
Refusing to vote is just what the statists are counting on you to do. In addition to the activities described in the column, I encourage you to vote third party or write-in candidates. This sends a greater message to the establishment and to bystanders that there is real demand for ideas outside of the two-party system.
Please!! NOPRAH
Nobody would be the best candidate, in fact that is who I will be voting/not voting for. However, we need to get more people to not vote. I know a lot of people, like yourself, that thought Obama was the savior, that now say they will never vote again because they witnessed it doesn't matter who wins. For the people that do vote, I want them to have the most ridiculously saintly-in-their-eyes candidate they can come up with. Then when it wins, they will see quickly that it can't make the differences they're dreaming of, just like Obama failed them. I think this will lead to more people into realizing the deep state and turning into non-voters.
I've heard of certain cities electing dogs as mayors, which I found hilarious, but totally makes sense to me. A lot of people seem to show more compassion towards animals, so maybe this would be an easier transition for semi-conscious people to understand the joke of political "leaders" on a national level.
Nobody for President 👍
Please no more Hollywood / Celebrities in the White House. It isn't really working out with this one, and I don't want to see what will happen with the next one.
Can we put someone in there who actually will represent the people? I don't care if nothing gets done, but nothing getting done would be more productive than the garbage that has been forced down American throats for the past [insert number here] Terms.
Let the people govern themselves! (P.S. I love the "Nobody For President" Image). People do need to take responsibility and Lead Themselves! :)