Audacity of Hope
Overview
The title of the book, The Audacity of Hope, was based on Jeremiah Wright’s sermon who was Obama’s pastor by then. However, the actual sermon read “the audacity to hope.” The epilogue tells his early personal and political life with both success and failure in the political arena. The book addresses sundry topics with each topic making a chapter of the book. These chapters are Republicans and Democrats, Values, Our Constitution, Politics, Opportunity, Faith, Race, The World Beyond our Borders, and Family respectively.
Chapter One: Republicans and Democrats
This chapter addresses two main issues. One of them is his Illinois senate race and the other one is the status quo of the American main parties namely Republicans and Democrats. He describes his Illinois senate election as one whose campaign was unique, “spooky good fortune…to political insiders, my victory proved nothing”;and a description of Washington’s escalating partisan rifts, “upon my arrival in Washington that January, I felt like the rookie…his uniform spotless, eager to play, even as his mud-splattered teammates tend to their wounds”. Obama delves into how the partisanship of the two parties arose by reviewing political history dating back from shortly after the end of the Second World War to the early 2000’s. He describes the citizens that he mixed with as if “they are waiting for a politics with maturity to balance idealism and realism, what can and cannot be compromised…don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, conservative and liberal…are out there waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.” However, the chapter isn’t without castigations. Despite his admiration for Reagan as a young Hawaiian boy, he lambastes Ronald Reagan’s spell that he cast on the electorate, “unconvinced as I might have been by his John Wayne, Father Knows Best pose, his policy by anecdote, and his gratuitous assaults on the poor.” Painting his predecessor in such disrespectful words was a cardinal sin.
Chapter Two: Values
Obama quips that the “Democrats are wrong to run away from a debate of moral values.” His definition of values is “the standards and principles that the majority of Americans deem important in their lives, and in the life of the country.” These values are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He strengthens that point by saying that, “Our individualism has always been bound by a set of communal values, the glue upon which every healthy society depends. The “twin strands” of every society and individual have tension. He wraps it all up by saying that balancing the contrasting values is hard though, it’s up to “the power of culture to determine both individual success and social cohesion…and the government’s role in shaping that culture.” However, he denies that the rifts in the Democrat party has made it lose offices, yet, ironically in chapter one, he held that belief toward the Republicans. It is a case of someone seeing a speck in someone’s else eye while repressing the own log.
Chapter 3: Our Constitution
Being a scholar of constitution law, this chapter is about legislative debate. He describes how the lawmakers do not tailor the amendments in the constitution conform with the daily needs and requirements. To Obama, the constitution is a historical phenomenon but he regards it as a living document and thus must be be flexibly used so as to suit a world that is always changing. His opinion of how conservatives view the courts is as “the last bastion of pro-abortion, pro-affirmative-action, pro-homosexual, pro-criminal, pro-regulation, and anti-religious” (Barack). However, he misses one thing. With the rate of the ever-changing world, it would be difficult to tailor the constitution to meet the daily needs and requirements, unless, it would be amended on a daily basis.
Chapter 4: Politics
This chapter tells of the politics and politicians. He describes the forces that define the political arena namely money, media, interest groups and the legislative process. These forces, as he points out, make “even the best-intentioned politicians” abide their values. He reviews his experience with donors and interest groups, “without money and television ads…you are pretty guaranteed to lose.” He says that once politician abide to the conditions of the interest groups there two options: either being steered by them or renege the promises. He concludes by advising that before a politician shouldn’t avow their loyalty to any interest group, instead, they should vow to tackle every rising issue and bill with good considerations. To fellow democrats, he requests they better serve their constituencies by loosening their grip on power. He overlooks one aspect; as the word “interest” of the interest groups imply the group has aims. Unless a politician has a lot of personal wealth, interest groups will always be handy and their needs must be pledged before they fund the campaign and which is a give-and-take method.
Chapter Five: Opportunity
American economic vision, its growth and the significance of social, cultural and political aspects on the U.S forms the basis of the chapter. Nimbly, he touches on how insecurity affects U.S. He acknowledge the significance of the free market on the U.S economy and governments efforts in the provision of infrastructure and market regulation. His position has enabled him to mingle with wealthy and influential people in the world. However, his meeting with the wealthy man, Warren Buffet, refutes some of his claims, “The free market’s the best mechanism ever devised to put resources to their most efficient and productive use.” However, “the government isn’t particularly good at that.”
Chapter Six: Faith
Faith has been a controversial issue in the U.S but Obama describes it as an act of faith show-off by the Republicans. He tells of his conversion from atheism to being a faithful and how the converting strengthened his convictions, both personally and morally. His Islamic links are also described. He wraps it all up by giving his formulation; religion tolerance should bring the two warring parties together and be a platform of having similar ideas and not be a platform to wage war. A democrat, just like the other Democrats, he is of the upfront unfounded opinion that the political opposition party is waging war on the basis of religion in governmental fronts.
Chapter Seven: Race
He describes how racial discrimination has lessen since Rosa Parks declined to give away her seat due to racism. Yet, despite the changes that have been made to end racism, he opines that its still present. He observes that while the blacks earn 75% and Hispanics 71% of what whites earn, there is the need to end that gap. However, the role that the government should have in tackling that issue has been controvertible in the U.S politics. He calls Americans to shun racism, also, the colored people to think beyond victimization and persecution so that they can realize their full capabilities. However, he is wrong to compare how he discovered his full potential with how the majority blacks can do to realize theirs. His black ancestry history is different to many blacks. His parents had no slavery history, yet, he tries to advise blacks whose parents has a slavery history. Therefore, he doesn’t point out that discrimination is a deeply ingrained habit to many white Americans’ perceptions, and that the blacks can’t be categorized in the same group.
Chapter Eight: The World Beyond our Borders
The U.S foreign policy dating back to the Washington’s days reviewed here. He delves from his experience while schooling in Indonesia as a young boy. He reviews the Indonesian history in the last half century and uses it to show the good and the bad side of the U.S. Foreign treats. Then it describes how U.S sealed its fate, such as in the 9/11 attacks by coercing Indonesian in free market through its economic model. In turn, it sparked Islamic fundamentalism. In its role and functions in global issues, he argues that the U.S should think beyond self-defense and engage not unilaterally, but multilaterally in impacting on world issues. He overlooks the fact that U.S is susceptible to terror in its land, such as the 9/11 attacks, and that it should first think about self-defense before tackling other matters.
Chapter Nine: Family
Obama reviews his childhood and the current challenges that face many American families where both parents are working full-time. He describes how he and his wife have fought hard to balance their private and professional duties. He also rebukes the Republicans for endorsing the customary family. He advises that so that children can be given a firm foundation, families should endorse policies and personal commitment. He was almost carried away by issues that are not very important such as gay marriage and rape in the expense of more crucial issues.

Work Cited
Obama, B. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. Melbourne: Text Publishing Company, 2008.