Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Obama Speaks to Us

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist … in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure.

Thank you, President Obama. Now let's help entrepreneurs with a break from bureaucratic red tape. And we need to see some entrepreneurial types in high government positions, too.

Now, before anyone dismisses this comment as "mere rhetoric," keep in mind that rhetoric really does shape our thoughts, and therefore our actions, even if you don't realize it at the time.

Language does more than describe an outside reality; it co-creates that reality. That's why vocabulary is a real source of power.