‘Our divisions are deep,’ Obama says of America’s crisis of democracy in his new book



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Former US President Barack Obama says in his next book that the divisions in America “are deep” and Donald Trump’s departure from the White House will not be enough to bridge the gap.

In an excerpt from A promised land, which goes on sale Tuesday, Obama reflects on the four years since he left office.

“Our democracy appears to be on the brink of crisis, a crisis rooted in a fundamental contest between two opposing views of what America is and what it should be,” Obama said in the excerpt recently published in The Atlantic.

The crisis “has left the body politic divided, angry and distrustful,” he said.

It has also “allowed for a continued violation of institutional norms, due process and adherence to basic facts that both Republicans and Democrats once took for granted.”

Obama said he was “encouraged” by the electoral victory of his former vice president, Joe Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris, and their “character and ability to do the right thing.”

“But I also know that no election will resolve the issue,” Obama said.

“Our divisions are deep; our challenges are daunting.”

“If I remain hopeful about the future, it is in large part because I have learned to put my faith in my fellow citizens, especially in the next generation,” he said.

“My book is for those young people: an invitation to remake the world once again and to achieve, through hard work, determination and a great deal of imagination, an America that finally aligns itself with all the best of us.” Obama said.

In the first volume of 768 pages of his memoirs, the 44th president of the United States reveals that he writes by hand with a ballpoint pen on a yellow pad rather than on a computer and confesses his inability to be concise.

He talks about trying to “find a low-key place to smoke at night” while in the White House and how “physically and emotionally exhausted” he and his wife, Michelle Obama, were when they left the White House in January 2017. .

“For a month, Michelle and I slept in late, dined quietly, went for long walks, swam in the ocean, took stock, regained our friendship, rediscovered our love, and planned a less bumpy second act but hopefully no less. satisfactory, “he said. – AFP



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