WELL. IT FASCINATES ME! | 2016-06-01
To a stamp collector, the discovery of a prized stamp is beautiful.
There is a close up on the stamp and real collectors can't get enough of it.
To us stamp illiterates, that close up and the discussion holds as much charm as going to New York Harbor and waiting for the Titanic to show up.
My life has been built around political debate, so for me a short devastating winning point being made is what a slow motion film of Babe Ruth hitting a homer is to a baseball history fanatic.
In turn, part of political debate is political explanation, and this can also become an art form. There was a debate between a person who felt that it was important to keep a strict limit on how much money is printed. His opponent believed in the Gold Standard.
The Gold Standard man took a twenty out of his wallet and made a dramatic point:
"This is piece of paper that says twenty dollars on it. In the real world it is worthless."
His opponent then demonstrated that sometimes the best point can be made without words. He simply reached out and tried to take that bill away from his opponent. What that guy did was what any of us would do when somebody tries to take money out of our hands.
It caused a huge laugh.
And the Gold Standard's guy found his dramatic "worthless!" statement lying in ruins.
To me, it was a thing of beauty.