By Dr. Ben Carson
Friday, February 07, 2014
Earlier this year, one of the mainstream media networks
was planning to do a special on my retirement from neurosurgery. They recorded
a lecture I gave at my medical school, as well as one given at a high school in
Detroit. They also accompanied me to my old stomping grounds, where many of the
neighbors came out to greet me and talk about old times.
I was struck by some of their comments, including the
notion that I always had lofty, unrealistic dreams, but that they would enjoy
hearing about them anyway. Someone else told me that people would always murmur
among themselves when I approached, "Here comes Mr. Know-It-All. Let's get
out of here." While the network decided not to air the special for some
reason unknown to me, it was still a valuable opportunity for me to catch up
with old acquaintances.
Similarly, some years ago, I attended the 25th reunion of
my high school graduating class. The thing that struck me the most was that
many of the "really cool" guys were dead. Many of my other classmates
told me how proud they were of my accomplishments and asked me if I remembered
how they used to encourage me. Of course I did not — no such encouragement took
place — but people's memories tend to change over time.
Many of my fellow members of the Horatio Alger Society of
Distinguished Americans have recounted similar stories of being regarded as
different and not always being part of the "in" crowd when they were
growing up. The Horatio Alger Society inducts 10 to 12 new members each year.
These are people who grew up under very difficult circumstances and went on to
achieve at the highest levels of their respective endeavors. Many of their
names would be quite familiar to the public. Are their stories aberrant, or are
we truly the captains of our own destiny?
In the game of chess, pawns are just used for the
purposes of the royal pieces. In real life, many in power selfishly use
"pawns" — average citizens — while at the same time vociferously
proclaiming that they are the only ones looking out for the interests of the
pawns, who happily follow their commands, thinking that this "royal"
contingent has their interests in mind.
However, in a chess game, a pawn can become any one of
the royal pieces, if it can make it to the other side of the board. The
opponent will do almost anything to keep one from reaching its goal, because
that would interfere with the power structure. If they can keep the pawns on
their side of the board, where it is much safer, the status quo can be
maintained.
Although no analogy is perfect, it is pretty easy to see
the point here. By keeping large groups of Americans complacent and afraid of
challenging authority, the position, wealth and status of those in power is
secure. The last thing they want is for independent-thinking citizens to
realize that this country was designed for them and not for an arrogant ruling
class. They dread the possibility of people scrutinizing their words and deeds,
and holding them accountable for the same. By using strong-arm tactics and a
sheepishly compliant news media, the supposed guardians of truth, they have
become very successful at pawn control.
I can't remember how many times during my medical career
I was told, "You can't do that; no one has done that before" or
"Do you think all the incredibly bright people who have preceded you
didn't think of that?" Certainly, if I had listened to those comments
instead of critically analyzing the problems and using the triumphs and
mistakes of others to produce innovative solutions, my career path would have
been considerably different. We have these magnificent brains with outstanding
reasoning ability in order to be creative and to critically analyze what we
hear and see. We must stop acting like pawns and start acting like masters of
our own destiny.
We should not listen to those who say there is too much
corruption for honesty and common sense to succeed. We cannot believe that our
enemies are too powerful to combat, and we should not accept that the media
will never change back to being stalwarts of integrity and truth. We can play
the role of nice little pawn or we can be smart, courageous and move out of our
comfort zone to accomplish something truly great for our future. It might be a
lonely journey at first, but eventually others will see the light. We will shed
the pawn mentality and be promoted to the position of proud and independent
citizens of America.
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