I absolutely hope Obama will provide the "change" he so often speaks of. We need it.

I think that the world has always been and still remains ready for working in a cooperative and communicative manner with the United States. The world has probably just been waiting for the United States to figure out how to cooperate and communicate adequately with them! (By the way, I am American. ;) )

I think that people are realizing the urgency of working together to create sustainable human living on Earth without destroying it first. I have faith that we will be able to find the common and unmistakable goodness within our hearts before it is too late! :)

It is unwise to presume that Obama will be a President who works for the people instead of the corporations. If he really was committed to change, our corporate media would have pretended he did not exist as they did the candidates who really were committed to change -- people like Cynthia McKinney, Ron Paul, and to a lesser extent, Kucinich.

If we really do desire change, we have to begin by changing our own self-defeatist behaviors -- behaviors such as voting for one of the two major party candidates who Corporate America chooses for us every two to four years.

Posted on behalf of Alicia Otis:

Whether the world is ready for unilateral cooperation .... Either we embrace it or we don't. If we don't then humanity will destroy itself. Simple as that. In many cases, yes, new values are emerging in leadership around the globe because either consciously or unconsciously people are beginning to see the precarious state our civilization is in (the current financial woes are scaring world leaders into searching for alternative ways to stabalize world economy...That alone demands cooperation with other nations. Basically the collective ego wants to survive.

The Taliban (there are "taliban" life destructive collective forces in every nation under different names). Every human being has a speck of Taliban in us. Its part of being a Divine being in our perfectly imperfect human forms. Its the old tug of war between good and evil that identifies humans through the questionably recorded and unrecorded history of humanity on earth.,

Leadership in the world is very important at this time. Spiritual leadership being the most important ingredient of all . How our politicians and humanitarian leaders embrace and display their connection to the Divine will make the difference between lasting survival of our civilization or its ultimate decline. We must pray that a more balanced collective humanity will seriously, sensibly acknowlege our primary root connection to a Divine Origin particularly embracing the feminine principal; goodness, compassion, beauty, love, wisdom...

This is the truth of our time in the evolution of consciousness.

hi,

humans are realsizing that supporting a group, religion, organization, country with self greed, security has brought only more chaos.

so now is the time to support global growth, peace & security in whole world can only makes us happy.

metta ~ may all beings be happy

I'm multicultural by birth.
My social and work lives are multicultural.
I'm putting myself down many times and in every occasion, but there is one point I aknowledge myself value, that is listening and understanding differences, individually and culturally.

ARE NEW VALUES EMERGING AROUND THE GLOBE?
Yes.
I have observed (here in France where I live, but also in other countries) over the last 10 years, young people breaking the rules, unwilling the experience what their parents had, chosing to live a diffente life regardless of the many years of studies they had done. Just for the sake of their well-being in their own environment.
Yes, there are many people believing that the values they have been brought up in are meaningless nowadays. They prefer to build upon their own values:
- each one has his place, regardless of education and "intelligence" and, there, a role to play, a valuable one;
- looking for the "agreement" of your parents and/or society is meaningless if you are not truly in agreement with yourself;
- don't do to others (human beings, nature or whatever) what you don't want others to do to you.
(It's a shortcut, but this is not the place to extend)

IS THE WORLD READY TO WORK IN A NEW WAY?
Yes. If we want so.
I'm astonished by the number of people who think "what will I change, in the number?"
People need to understand that each individual can change something, and that tiny things put together build something larger (see the hummingbird metaphore).

WE WILL SOON HAVE A LEADER WHO EMBRACES COOPERATION & COOPERATION
Once again, can we put everything on this man shoulders? I don't think it's realistic. Can we hope he will bring change? I do.
But he is not MY leader. In my eyes, he is the leader of the US citizens who voted for him.
I will wait and see how he cooperates and comunicates with others.

Cheers.

Yes

I think when Americans look at multiculturalism for many there is a palpable resentment. I have heard friends and relatives say things such as, why can't people who come here blended and really become Americans. "Why do they have to have their own stores"- I heard someone say in response to a new Arabic food store that opened in a local community. This person is a wonderful, kind and caring, but she could not understand how a new store with a new array of foods was great for everyone. It will help this community become more open, perhaps experiment and try new things. In the book Post-American world Fareed Zakaria makes a great poin about demographics. He mentions that America allows immigrants to grow and benefit from our society, blending in when they need to, even if they keep some of their own cultural practices alive. In the next 30 years it will give us an edge over Europe and Japan where immigrants do not assimilate very well. We will have a workforce of 3 workers to every retiree, while Spain, Germany, France, Japan and Great Britain will have the opposite ratio of 1 worker to every 3 retirees. Immigrants will allow us to prosper in the global economy, while others will struggle to pay for and take care of their retirees. We can develop a oneness of mind in America on many of our commonalities, the right to speak freely, become educated and worship how we please, because we support the principle that these are some of the things that give us basic human rights. At the same time we can value one another's differences.

We are a multicultural society.And for a rare time in modern history, we have an opportunity to express our oneness as human beings, as well as, our diversity.I don't if values are changing but with the current conditions as they are...it changes life styles. As a result, our commonalities become apparent in that we all need the basics, such as, food, water, shelter, health care and love. When you are put in a position to recognize commonalities then your efforts are executed with a sense of "Oneness of Mind". This is simply wisdom and with wisdom comes true shared responsibility. I look forward with hope that is based on sharing and not fostered by greed, arrogance and stupidity.