After speaking in Minneapolis (where the biggest TV station bears my name, I modestly add) I hopped into a cab to head back to the airport. It was driven by an erudite young man from Egypt. We exchanged views on why we thought Obama might have a chance (or not) of getting elected, how the book, Discover Your Inner Economist, was an excellent follow-up to Freakonomics – and more.
He is a regular reader of some of my favorite publications: The Economist, Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker.
Buzzing along the freeway I spotted a bumper sticker that read, “"Get out of your car smarter than you got in." I asked the cab driver if he’s seen it before and he responded proudly, “Why that message is from Minnesota Public Radio.”
He added, “If I don’t have a passenger I turn on our local NPR station. If I have someone in the car from whom I can learn, I ask questions.”
I loved the implication that we can expand our knowledge even in short spurts. Almost always, I have a book in my purse when I am out and about to open during those “waiting times.”
I'm not the only one who thinks so.
I've been listening to Stephen King's audio version of his extraordinary book, On Writing. He offers two rules for would-be writer: “Write a lot. Read a lot."
Yet it is difficult to convince oneself to read and write everyday. I know. Habits are hard to change. As Dave Barry points out, "For example, the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet."
The bonus though? Through steady reading and writing one naturally hones one’s beliefs. One is more likely to be motivated and equipped to make a difference.
Or, as my friend, Jonathan Lewis said in a recent interview, “Take sides. Social change is not a spectator sport. In the end, social change is about changing the status quo, and standing up in big and small ways for those without political or economic power.”
Here is Jonathan’s money quote, when asked “If you could change one thing about the way people are, what would it be?”:
“We need more truth-tellers. It is hard to speak truth to power and even harder to speak truth to money, but both are necessary. Why should the tears of a baby in Mali matter less to us than a crying child in Miami or, for that matter, why do the fetal limbs of the unborn seem to matter more than machetied limbs in Darfur?”
