Post by Noah on Apr 6, 2005 10:22:29 GMT -5
When I was a kid, I thought "Made in the U.S.A." was an obnoxious phrase. That's because I didn't understand what it meant. I would see bumper stickers that said "BUY AMERICAN," and I'd bristle. I'd hear people encouraging one another to only buy American-made products, and I'd think they were creeps.
You see, I thought that the only motivation behind the "Buy American" movement was nationalism. I thought those people were saying that things made in America were inherently better, just because they were American. Meanwhile, everything I heard suggested that the best cars and electronics came from other countries. I thought telling people not to buy them was a form of racism.
In my early teens, when I began to understand politics (and the world) on a more adult level, I suddenly realized that I'd seriously misinterpreted this. They weren't saying, "Buy American because all good things are American and people in foreign countries suck." They were saying that life in America would be better -- even American cars and electronics would be better -- if we made an effort to support our own economy.
I certainly don't fault my ten-year-old self for failing to grasp concepts like the loss of manufacturing jobs and its relation to our quality of life. But the lesson I learned has stayed with me ever since, as an ongoing reminder of how important it is to be able to change your mind. No matter how sure we are of our convictions, we should stay open to the possibility of a paradigm-shift. And the best way of maintaining that openness, I think, is to exchange ideas with people we don't always agree with. That's why I find debate invigorating -- not just because I might convince someone of something, but because they might convince me. I would like for this message board to facilitate such conversations.
In the words of my father, Steve Diamond: "Your mind is like your underwear. If you don't change it, at least occasionally, it will become rigid, and useless."
You see, I thought that the only motivation behind the "Buy American" movement was nationalism. I thought those people were saying that things made in America were inherently better, just because they were American. Meanwhile, everything I heard suggested that the best cars and electronics came from other countries. I thought telling people not to buy them was a form of racism.
In my early teens, when I began to understand politics (and the world) on a more adult level, I suddenly realized that I'd seriously misinterpreted this. They weren't saying, "Buy American because all good things are American and people in foreign countries suck." They were saying that life in America would be better -- even American cars and electronics would be better -- if we made an effort to support our own economy.
I certainly don't fault my ten-year-old self for failing to grasp concepts like the loss of manufacturing jobs and its relation to our quality of life. But the lesson I learned has stayed with me ever since, as an ongoing reminder of how important it is to be able to change your mind. No matter how sure we are of our convictions, we should stay open to the possibility of a paradigm-shift. And the best way of maintaining that openness, I think, is to exchange ideas with people we don't always agree with. That's why I find debate invigorating -- not just because I might convince someone of something, but because they might convince me. I would like for this message board to facilitate such conversations.
In the words of my father, Steve Diamond: "Your mind is like your underwear. If you don't change it, at least occasionally, it will become rigid, and useless."
