Yesterday, like many Americans, I watched President Obama's 2011 State of the Union and Republican Representative Paul Ryan's response. While it did give me a little hope, I was still frustrated with the mixed signals regarding the economy and the budget deficit. Obama stated that we are going to reduce spending, while investing in the future. Huh? And, the Republicans are convinced that cutting spending will create jobs. I'm not so sure about that one either. AND, everyone is talking about reducing the deficit but there are no concrete plans to touch Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Despite all this, there was one idea that Obama carried throughout his speech that resonated with me:
"Winning the Future"
Now, this is a language blog. So, let's talk a little about the language here. President Obama (+ his speechwriter) is an excellent speech writer and he chose these words for a reason. Beginning with this phrase, the speech placed an overwhelming emphasis on the future. This may seem a little obvious because the high unemployment levels and ballooning deficit are major threats to the country's wellbeing. However, we should note that there was almost no mention of Obama's accomplishments to this point aside from his defense of health care reform from Republicans attempting to repeal it. Obama showed that he has felt the people's sense of urgency and by using the entire speech to address fears about the deficit, unemployment and America's weakening hegemony.
Winning is the other key piece of this phrase. By declaring that we must win the future, Obama has simplified the fate of America into a game. By doing this, Obama skillfully unifies the American people by putting them all on the same "team."
There are two different ways Obama employs this game metaphor. The first is a sort of competition where our opponents are China, India and the other nations on the rise that are threatening American dominance. In his speech Obama acknowledged the competition and identified where we need to focus our attention in order to "win." His strategies included investing in education and small businesses to encourage innovation.
However, the other game is a little more like Tetris. It is a one-player game where America is given a domestic puzzle that we have to solve: how to fix the economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit all at the same time. A game like this demands efficiency and foresight. However, the strategies that Obama offered in his speech to solve this puzzle were lacking in these areas and it was frustrating. I did not hear any concrete plans or specific moves to solve these major problems. Despite this, I thought the idea of winning the future was a very effective way of uniting the country.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Book Review: The 7 Habits...
A lot of the literature that I have discussed on my blog has been from my English class. So, I figured it was time to mix things up a bit and share some of my thoughts on a book that I read over the summer. It is called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Now, I know what you're probably thinking. Why would I ever consider reading some lame self-help book for teens? And, even worse, what was I thinking when I decided to write a post about it on my highly respectable blog? Well, I will answer both those questions (and any others if you decide to comment on this post). First, I was required to read it for my school-sponsored Habitat for Humanity trip. Second, I am writing this post because 7 Habits is a worthwhile read.
When I found out I had to read this book, it did not go over well. I was expecting a cheesy, condescending tone from an author that preached all about how to be a good kid that never breaks any rules or has any fun. I think that's why I liked it so much. The author, Sean Covey, does his best to actually connect with teenagers, mixing in humor and stories from his own life. I'd say that he does a fairly decent job keeping his writing style engaging and not annoying or preachy. However, there were certain points when his language made me feel like I was being given a lecture. Since my expectations were already low, these instances didn't come as a surprise and I didn't let them ruin the book for me. There IS a lot of good stuff in this book and I think that the best way to approach reading 7 Habits is to take it with a tiny grain of salt.
The entire book may not apply to you. There may be areas of your life where you are completely satisfied: school or friends or family, etc. But, for the areas that you are not happy with, I think this book offers some great strategies and basic attitudes/philosophies that can be really useful. Reading this book gave me an opportunity to take a step back and look at many of the aspects of my life. I was able to see where I wanted to improve myself. And that's the great thing: I saw where I wanted to improve. Don't view this book as the Bible or an instruction manual. Use it to your benefit. Pick and choose what you want to take away from it.
I realize I haven't talked much about the actual book. I'm not going to give you much because the experience of reading 7 Habits is much better than any quick summary I could give. The best part is being able to connect to all Covey's tips, suggestions and strategies and seeing where they fit in your own life. However if you must know, some of the basic concepts in this book include being proactive, prioritizing, dependency, relationships, self-worth and lots of other things every teen should think about. All in all, if you read this book right, I think you can get a lot out of it.
Sean Covey's website
FYI - Sean Covey is the son of Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If any of you have read this book and/or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, feel free to comment with your views on the books and this post. Thanks!
When I found out I had to read this book, it did not go over well. I was expecting a cheesy, condescending tone from an author that preached all about how to be a good kid that never breaks any rules or has any fun. I think that's why I liked it so much. The author, Sean Covey, does his best to actually connect with teenagers, mixing in humor and stories from his own life. I'd say that he does a fairly decent job keeping his writing style engaging and not annoying or preachy. However, there were certain points when his language made me feel like I was being given a lecture. Since my expectations were already low, these instances didn't come as a surprise and I didn't let them ruin the book for me. There IS a lot of good stuff in this book and I think that the best way to approach reading 7 Habits is to take it with a tiny grain of salt.
The entire book may not apply to you. There may be areas of your life where you are completely satisfied: school or friends or family, etc. But, for the areas that you are not happy with, I think this book offers some great strategies and basic attitudes/philosophies that can be really useful. Reading this book gave me an opportunity to take a step back and look at many of the aspects of my life. I was able to see where I wanted to improve myself. And that's the great thing: I saw where I wanted to improve. Don't view this book as the Bible or an instruction manual. Use it to your benefit. Pick and choose what you want to take away from it.
I realize I haven't talked much about the actual book. I'm not going to give you much because the experience of reading 7 Habits is much better than any quick summary I could give. The best part is being able to connect to all Covey's tips, suggestions and strategies and seeing where they fit in your own life. However if you must know, some of the basic concepts in this book include being proactive, prioritizing, dependency, relationships, self-worth and lots of other things every teen should think about. All in all, if you read this book right, I think you can get a lot out of it.
Sean Covey's website
FYI - Sean Covey is the son of Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If any of you have read this book and/or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, feel free to comment with your views on the books and this post. Thanks!
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