Yes We Can, so let’s Just Do It

The New Yorker has a huge profile of Journalist Naomi Klein in its Dec. 15 edition. There’s an interesting passage about what she thinks of Barack Obama:

Because Klein doesn’t expect much from any politician, she doesn’t spend time wishing Obama were more progressive. “I don’t want to appear too cynical, but when I first saw the ‘Yes We Can’ rock video that Will.I.Am made, my first response was ‘Wow, finally a politician is making ads that are as good as Nike’s,’ ” she says. “The ‘Yes We Can’ slogan means whatever you want it to mean. It’s very ‘Just Do It.’ When you hear it, you catch yourself thinking, Yeah! We’re gonna end torture and shut down Guantánamo and get out of Iraq! And then you think, Wait a minute, is he really saying that? He’s not really saying that, is he? He’s saying we’re going to send more troops to Afghanistan. He’s telling regular people what they want to hear, and then in the back rooms he’s making deals and signing on to the status quo. But if people don’t like where Obama is they should move the center.”

Let’s not forget that Klein wrote the brand bible No Logo. CBC Radio’s Ideas had a whole section on the Yes We Can thing tonight. Obama’s message is indeed full of hope, which is what people need, but change has always been brought by popular initiative; the government just follows when it has to.