Propaganda has been a thing since the beginning of politics.

As a child, I was amazed to hear that Russians loved their country and had no desire to live in America. (My formative years were during the final decades of the Cold War era.)

During the Olympics, I'd feel sorry for the Russian athletes who had no opportunity to do anything other than their sport - chosen for them by the Communists.

Their plight was, indeed, a probable propagandized overstatement.

But, the realization of opportunity and potential is something American kids are taught from an early age (YOU could grow up to the president someday).

We assume talent is something we're born with. More and more research is revealing that there's much less talent in our genes that we think.

We live in a different day. In a different era with different tools, resources, and raw materials.

We don't have to wait for the government, or coaches, or teachers. Nor should most of us bemoan a lack of talent or opportunity.

We all have possibilities.

Sometimes we simply need to create our own potential.