Pidato Presiden Obama pada inaugural speech di Universitas Indonesia
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust
you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank
President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and
cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the
presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity
and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst
gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on
not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because
We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true
to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this
generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now
well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of
violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and
irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make
hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs
shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too
many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy
strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject
to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of
confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is
inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we
face are real. They are serious and they are many.
They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this,
America – they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope
over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have
strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of
Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to
reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward
that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation:
the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a
chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness
is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of
short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted
– for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches
and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things
– some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have
carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across
oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of
the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like
Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and
women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we
might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our
individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or
faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We
remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less
productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods
and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last
year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of
protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time
has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves
off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be
done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will
act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We
will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that
feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful
place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower
its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars
and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and
universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this
we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of
our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans.
Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already
done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common
purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that
the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that
have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not
whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether
it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a
retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move
forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage
the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad
habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we
restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the
market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand
freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful
eye, the market can spin out of control – and that a nation cannot prosper long
when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always
depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach
of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart
– not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false
the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with
perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and
the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals
still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And
so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the
grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that
America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a
future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down
fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy
alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot
protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that
our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the
justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of
humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by
these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even
greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We
will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned
peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly
to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We
will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and
for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering
innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken;
you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a
strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and
Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn
from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of
civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more
united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass;
that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller,
our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in
ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way
forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to
sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people
will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling
to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that
you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are
willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to
work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to
nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours
that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to
suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without
regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before
us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very
hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell
us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the
ages.
We honor them not only because they are
guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a
willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at
this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this
spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do,
it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which
this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees
break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a
friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the
firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a
parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments
with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success
depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and
curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are
true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What
is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a
new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that
we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly
accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so
satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to
a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of
citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence – the
knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and
children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this
magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might
not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a
most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of
who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the
coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the
shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The
snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was
most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the
people:
“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when
nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country,
alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our
hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us
brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.
Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we
refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter;
and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth
that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
