LIFE OF THE CLOSED MIND

The general argument made by Anna Quindlen in her work Life of the Closed Mind is that many Americans now have a closed mind. More specifically, Quindlen argues that we believe in too many conspiracies. She writes; “…we have become a nation of conspiracy theorists. But everything now is a conspiracy: a right-wing conspiracy, a Clinton conspiracy, above all a media conspiracy.”(pg 68) In this passage, Quindlen is suggesting that we no longer think for ourselves and believe in ridiculous conspiracies. In conclusion, it is Quindlen’s belief that “America had been hijacked by those who cannot tell the difference between opponents and enemies, between disagreement and heresy, between discussion and destruction.”

 In my view, Quindlen is both wrong and right because some people have come to a point where once a person or group have done something “evil” we automatically believe all the people from that race are evil. Yet not all people believe that. For example, ever since 9/11 happened we have had a closed mind and judged the Arabs and think that they all are terrorists. Although Quindlen might object that ever since 9/11 we have had a closed mind. I maintain that we should keep an open mind and not judge people because of what their race has done. Therefore, I conclude that we should be an open minded people so we can tell the difference between opponents and enemies.