3.03.2011

open or closed minded

Are you becoming more or less openminded? Are you becoming more or less closed-minded? I think I am openminded, but doesn't everyone think that? I am really good at getting annoyed with people who I think are closed-minded.

Is there really value in being openminded? What does that get a person?

Here is a sample: I have always thought I wanted to legalize drugs and then tax and regulate the drugs. But I am not sure I understood what that would look like in society. Montana has begun legalizing marijuana. A friend of mine's family has been torn apart by this...not by drug use, but rather by drug production. Part of the family has gone into production. They have quit their jobs and the whole family produces and sells pot. The other half of the family finds this abhorrent and no longer talks to said other half.

I never considered that someone other than a drug dealer would consider producing drugs. And I really don't think this has been a good development in Montana...a state with traditionally high unemployment and low education.

My openminded thoughts about drug legalization have become more closed in the face of reality. Maybe everyone's thoughts do that.

2 comments:

Brent said...

But your very willingness to change your mind in the face of new facts suggests that you are openminded (just more conservative than you thought you were).

Kara said...

I agree with Brent, and I also have to add that I voted to legalize marijuana in Montana, and seeing what has become of it, I regret it. We've got a big problem on our hands in terms of how we grow, regulate, and distribute and advertise medical marijuana. So I guess while I identify myself as liberal, I'm open-minded enough to hold a viewpoint considered conservative from time to time! I'll bet you're the same.