Most Americans are depressed about the economy. But if we pull back and try to rise above the clouds, there are real reasons for hope.
The combination of a “Yes We Can” administration headed to the White House, along with our country’s established leadership in innovation, has us standing at the crest of a trail that could ensure we never enter this chasm again. Let’s get back on our feet and remember what we are made of.
America is the world’s leading innovator in medicine, energy, information technology, and almost every discipline. Our research, patents, startups, and venture capital, all show a country driven to innovate, to create, and to dream the big dream for a better future.
United States’ innovation drives our everyday lives. The light bulb. The transistor. The PC. The Internet. The human genome. An innovator’s spirit cannot be doused by a few rain showers, and thrives on adversity. We are amazed by modern day dreamers and historic visionaries, including Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and others. They, like most Americans, possessed an innate disrespect for the status quo. They defied conventional wisdom and created new industries.
America succeeds where others fail because we value creativity over conformity. We respect the hope and naïveté of the young, because sometimes they are right. We seek risk, because it makes us stretch and break new ground. We support a free market for all good ideas, and welcome the best and brightest from distant shores.
We learn from failure and don’t punish it automatically, but we do not tolerate poor performance either. We reward the risk-takers.
Try that in Germany, or Japan, or China.
We must stay on the trail of innovation, in spite of adversity. Be aware that the trail is prone
