#IF MY GRANDMOTHER HAD WHEELS FREE#

Character? Nature? Nature might be a good word, because IвЂ™m pretty sure weвЂ™re born with it wired into our genes. I think thereвЂ™s something, but itвЂ™s hard to define. So what is there about me that makes me the person I am, at the core, irrespective of all the вЂњwhat ifsвЂќ? Who am I, then, as a person? I canвЂ™t define myself according to beliefs - theyвЂ™re a product of my background. I certainly wasnвЂ™t born a fan of rock music I was made into one - by my dadвЂ™s old records, my friendsвЂ™ CD collections, some great concerts, and the like. Interests and hobbies, too would I be a Britney Spears fan instead of a Collective Soul fan if I had a different group of friends in high school? I shudder at the thought, but itвЂ™s certainly possible. Okay, all of that is political and itвЂ™s easy to draw a linear connection between experience and belief. After all, if you spend three years surrounded by professors, classmates, and friends who think a certain way, some of it is bound to rub off. YouвЂ™re more likely to see business students voting Alliance and arts students voting NDP than the other way around. It doesnвЂ™t have to be in the sinister sense of the word.ДЇor example, itвЂ™s no secret that in university, different faculties inspire different thoughts.

And if beliefs are learned, not inherent in our nature, then each and every one of us is susceptible to brainwashing. After all, how do we really know what to think about anything? We read, experience, ask, and do, right? In other words, we learn. So is religion, and to a large extent, politics. But is it really that unjustified? Education is brainwashing. Give it a year or two, and the group has educated - literally brainwashed - the new member into its belief system.Д«rainwashed. Someone might enter a meeting of Amnesty International, or a fundraiser for a local church or synagogue, or a political discussion group, with little more than a vague idea about their feelings on the issues. But radicals or impassioned believers are made, not born. People join clubs or groups because they want to socialize and make friends, and to fit in somewhere. First and foremost is the desire to belong. So do beliefs really come out of strong conviction? No, I think there are sociological and psychological reasons for beliefs.

#IF MY GRANDMOTHER HAD WHEELS FREE#

I support a free market economy and consider myself politically centrist, but had I been born into a different family, or social sphere, that might be different. IвЂ™m pro-choice, but had I been born into a staunchly Catholic family I might be pro-life. IвЂ™m fervently pro-Israel, but had I been born a Palestinian refugee IвЂ™m sure I would have been out there marching with the pro-Palestinian faction in some of those rallies. And that may seem like a simple question, but itвЂ™s an extremely loaded one. The evidence seems to indicate that where weвЂ™re born, how weвЂ™re raised and educated, and the people we surround ourselves with have a large impact on who we become. IвЂ™m inclined to think that itвЂ™s the former. But the question is, would I be different? I mean, is my personality a product of my life experiences or of my nature? Are my beliefs and ideals and principles determined by where and when I live? Or by who I am? After all, who doesnвЂ™t?ДЄnd so I wonder, how different would my life be if the circumstances of my birth were different. (Some of you might have heard slightly less, er, genteel versions of that one.) There are endless ways to play the game of вЂњWhat If?вЂќ and sometimes I stop and think about how different my life could have been if only I was born someplace else, as someone else, in some other time or environment or instant. ThereвЂ™s an old Yiddish expression that goes вЂњIf my grandmother had wheels, sheвЂ™d be a carriageвЂќ.