From the Revista Emergente - a perspective from Latin America on the recent U.S. elections.


It’s November 5th and to many of you, your worst election fears have been realized, while at the same time, to many of you your election dreams have come true.

 

 I am incredibly blessed to have so many friends in the US (and from the US that live abroad) and within those relationships, to share many common ideas and also to respectfully disagree and debate many important issues.  I am also blessed to have had the opportunity to work in the US (in Grand Rapids, MI), to have studied there as well (in Virginia Beach, VA), to have travelled to many other places in the US for work and leisure, and to have worked with two of the greatest American corporations, Colgate Palmolive (2004-2005) and Whirlpool Corporation (2006-present).

 

All these experiences and relationships have given me a great love and appreciation for your country and culture, and at the same time, has made me aware of our own issues in Latin America, and also of many areas in which I think the US has many opportunities to grow and improve.

 

With all this in mind, I write this letter to all of you in the hopes it can provoke introspection, reflection and discussion as we look forward to what will definitely is a great change in the US and in the world with Barack Obama at the helm of the US government.

 

To my friends that lean to the right…..do not lose heart.  This 4 year hiatus is an opportunity to re-think, reflect and strengthen the core beliefs of the ideas that support a free and virtuous society.  It is a time for reassessing the methodologies that have been used to defend free markets, small governments and a way of life that places its trust on the responsible use of the freedoms and rights bestowed upon everyone not by governments but by the Creator Himself.  Let this defeat be a call for a new generation of people passionate about freedom and are able work grassroots with one another instead of placing their faith on a political party machine and on a messianic view of any given candidate.  It is a time for renewal of those who love and defend freedom, individual drive and responsibility.  I would also advise you to open your view of the rest of the world with humility and a desire to learn and be taught.  There is much going on and much to learn outside the US that will most certainly contribute to a stronger vision of the world and a more inclusive message about freedom.

 

To my friends that lean more to the left….congratulations! Congratulations on being able to profoundly transform the understanding of the political process and to challenge the reigning paradigms of partisan politics.  Change is definitely possible. Remember always to value individual freedom over the fatal conceit of centralized planning.  Remember that your nation was built from the ground up on the entrepreneurial spirit and drive that thrives only under freedom and under the guarantee of private property, and the value and dignity of every individual human person.  Remember that the family is the cornerstone for building a free and virtuous society that learns to grow in prosperity and spread it through enterprise that creates jobs, generates wealth and allows for human flourishing.  Remember that governments produce nothing, that politicians are not saints, and that even the president is fallible.

 

To my Christian friends…..keep on praying.  Build the Kingdom not through the establishment of a human king, but through serving one another in love and preaching the Gospel.  Remember not to make anything other than Jesus ultimate in your lives and never forget that He is Sovereign and that nothing escapes His plan and purpose.  Build your families, reform the Church and flee from the temptations of legislating your faith.  We have a much more powerful ally in His Spirit than any Congress, Senate, Constitution or President.  Revisit the basics and build up your communities from there, and you will see how His Faithfulness will sustain you and show you what is there for you to learn through these challenging times.

 

To all, remember always that change is good and that we constantly need to revise our own paradigms to make sure we don’t fall in the same traps as those that have come before us.  Remember that the world continues, as always, to look to you for answers, leadership and opportunity.  Here’s to the next 4 years!!!!