Gordon Brown: "America has embraced the values of progress." The election of Obama has inspired mill

[Bozita]

America has embraced the values of progress
The election of Obama has inspired millions around the world. It shows how voters need government to provide security in troubled times


Gordon Brown
guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 9 2008 00.01 GMT
The Observer, Sunday November 9 2008
Article history


This is a defining moment. A new chapter of the human story is being written and will be studied by our children, and their children, and their children after them. It is up to us whether 2008 is remembered for a financial crash that engulfed the world or for a new resilience and optimism from a generation which faced the economic storm head on and built the fair society in its wake.

The people of America made their choice last week. They picked a progressive President, inspiring the world with their belief that in difficult times people need their government to ensure more - not less - help and security is available for families and business. I'm looking forward to co-operating with the President-elect in building a new global society in which the advancement of people - their homes, jobs, savings and pensions - is always put first.

Today we are seeing not just the collapse of failed institutions but the collapse of a failed laissez-faire dogma. In this first financial crisis of the global age the old free market fundamentalism, no matter how it is dressed up, has been found wanting. These aren't abstract questions of political theory but woven into the stuff of everyday life. It's a question of how we ensure people get a fair chance and a fair say in life and how we make sure everybody, including banks, abides by rules. It's about what should be done to make sure that people's Christmas savings are safe, about how people can keep the homes they've worked to hard to buy.

That's the conversation that people all over Britain will be having around their kitchen tables tonight, so let me tell you my take. Our government is pro business; I believe in markets, entrepreneurship and there are many areas of the economy that need the spur of more competition.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/09/barack-obama-gordon-brown