If you’re a little kid who gets hurt doing something that your parents warned you against, the lesson you’re going to learn is to listen to your parents. If you’re a little kid who doesn’t get hurt by doing something that your parents warned you against, the lesson you’re going to learn is that you can get away with not listening to your parents.
If you’re a little kid who does something that your parents warned you against, and it not only SAVES YOUR LIFE, but also makes you the RICHEST KID ON EARTH, the lesson you’re going to learn is to ALWAYS DO THE OPPOSITE of what your parents tell you.
And for 200 years, right up until Vietnam, THAT WAS AMERICA. We not only SURVIVED, but also SUCCEEDED, BECAUSE we did the opposite of what every other nation on Earth did, and said that we should do too. I can’t think of a better recipe for turning anyone into more of a die-hard contrarian than that.
