The power of language

Followers of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), will know all about the power of language, but for those less familiar, take a look at the following paragraphs I found in The Labourgraph, this morning:

US unemployment hits 10pc for first time since Ronald Reagan was in power

“While the US may be officially out of recession, there are too few signs yet that employers have confidence enough to begin taking on new staff,” commented Howard Wheeldon, BGC Partners’ senior strategist.

This “suggests that those working in the wider economy are still concerned that the stimulus benefit enjoyed in recent months can be turned into sustainable growth,” he continued.

Notice, "the stimulus benefit enjoyed", allied to the highest US official unemployment figures for 26 years (with the real jobless rate probably twice that).

I must say, as an NLP practioner myself, and someone used to its powers, this clever use of language even took me by surprise.

You might even believe, from the messages being put out by governments all over the world, that everything is so good that we should all burst spontaneously into song, singing "climb every mountain".

It is clever, though. You have to hand it to these bought-and-paid-for intellectuals, for being able to machinate this nonsense without their own brains melting.