You’ve got to admit, Obama’s slogan, “Change We Can Believe In,” is pretty open ended. Just what sort of “Change” are we really talking about?

You can plug in any variety of key campaign topics like health care, economy, and Iraq, but there’s a much more tangible way to imagine the change that we are being promised.

You’re probably wondering what this topic is doing on a website geared towards web design. Well, my argument here revolves around Obama’s stance on technology, as it’s my belief that through this, we can get a better sense of our future should Obama become our president.

To start, a glance at both Obama and McCain’s personal use of technology quickly reveals to whom it’s more important. Judging from the success of his ‘grass-roots’ internet campaign, it’s no doubt that Obama has an understanding of technology in today’s society. On the opposite end, McCain has publicly admitted to his technological illiteracy, revealing that he can’t even write an e-mail.

These vast differences are visible in their policies and stances on technology. McCain’s vague grasp on technology is directly reflected in his vague plans for technology’s role should he become president. In short, McCain hopes the free-market will keep technology advancing in America, but we’ve all seen how the free-market has helped us advance beyond the use of oil. It hasn’t.

Obama on the other hand has a much clearer vision. Obama is an advocate for network neutrality, which would essentially guarentee that our freedom of speech — in fact, our freedom in general — is not violated on the internet. In addition, Obama understands the importance of technology in our economy, as well as its role in keeping America at the forefront of innovation. While the senate twiddles their thumbs trying to agree on off-shore drilling, China is speeding up their production of green technology and products.

My argument amounts to this: The change we all believe in lies in a future that is different from today, where gas is cheap, jobs plentiful, healthcare affordable, and our safety attainable. It is not enough to simply tweak our current practicies, as McCain would do, but rather, we need to help usher our country into a future that is undeniably reliant on the evolution of technology.

Obama understands that many of the problems we face today are a result of our habituation to the ways that have worked in the past, but are crumbling before our eyes today. He knows that a successful, modern society is one that embraces cutting edge technology, adopts it into its government, assimilates it into the nation, and advances it around the world.

With that in mind, the “change” that Obama keeps refering to isn’t just the concept of tomorrow being different from today, it’s the inevitable conclusion that what we all want is for tomorrow to be better than today. And if Obama’s stance on technology is any indication of how he plans to make our country better, it’s evident that there would be some major overhauls in our country’s use, production, and advancement of technology. All of which are necessities, should we ever wish to get out of this terrible rut we’ve seemed to find ourselves in.

I’m not trying to suggest that technology alone will solve all our problems, but in this collosally important race for the presidency, technology serves as a good guage by which to understand our candidates’ ability to provide the things that our country needs.

Tags: change, McCain, Obama, technology