I have just finished reading A Promised Land, Barack Obama’s first presidential memoir. Weighing in at a hefty 700 pages, it tells the story of his life before the presidency (in summary) and most of his first term (in detail). The presidential action starts in 2008 with the financial crisis and finishes with the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. I am not reviewing the book here, but rather focusing on something right at the end that I found sad and confirmation, if any were needed, that the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible is not going to be delivered conventionally by the establishment, even when the most powerful leader on the planet is charismatic, progressive and on the side of a fairer, greener, more sustainable world.