A quote came to my attention today. One from the notorious Richard Nixon. He stood there, solemn-faced, and said. “The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.”
It reminded me that people are often quoted, and oftentimes, it is a complete bunch of crap. Hooey. Sludge. Diddly-squat.
Of course, he was referring to himself. And, part of Nixon’s quote is right. At the most basic level, steel is made by mixing carbon and iron at very high temperatures (above 2600°F). But all steel is made that way, essentially.
When you look more closely at things, primary steelmaking creates steel from a product called “pig iron.” Yes, indeed. Pig iron. It is smelted iron from ore, and it contains more carbon than is correct for steel.
So what the steelmaker does, is use a system that bubbles oxygen through melting pig iron. Yes, hot air runs through it. And what this process does, is create equal oxidization throughout the molten metal.
That nifty process of oxidization removes excess carbon. It also vaporizes or binds any impurities. But the bottom line is crappy steel, pig iron steel, holier-than-thou steel is made at the same temperature. It all begins melting at 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. The makers of steel boil it at 2600º as a standard.
So, Mr. Nixon, we see that, in fact, you may have been made of pig iron, filled with hot air, going through no more heat than any of the others.
Over the past few days, we have seen some different kinds of quotes coming from politicians, coaches, businessmen, people in power. Many of these have been full of nonsense too.
The coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, formerly LA Raiders, made a racial slur against one of his players. Gruden’s remark about the football player, who is Black, used a “racist trope common in anti-Black imagery.” Gruden allegedly said, “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires.”
Now, he is being investigated further. Gruden resigned Monday night. This comes with the reports that he repeatedly used homophobic and misogynistic language in a series of emails over a period of seven years.
I should add here that Gruden was in a 10-year, $100 million contract. That’s right — one HUNDRED MILLION dollars to do what he does. Pig iron, I say.
On the other side of the country, in the beautiful state of North Carolina, the lieutenant governor there made some quotes about homosexuals and the LGBT community in general.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said earlier, “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” he told the audience. “And yes, I called it filth. And if you don’t like it that I called it filth, come see me, and I’ll explain it to you.”
Since he made the statement, he has doubled down on it, standing behind every word. Explain it to me.
The world is filled with quote-makers, it seems. They were given a mouth, and lord only knows. They love to use it. Unfortunately, people pay attention, and they are often unable to discern between good quotes and bad quotes.
Perhaps people who see the world differently than I do would disagree. Yet, it is my understanding that humans are equals and should be treated as such. We may not have equal talents, equal attributes, equal abilities, or equal circumstances.
But the essence of humanity — the exact moment a human enters earth — born into this world in that blessed second and from that point forward — creates the equality in our being.
Humans. Being.
Not human-I-am-better-than-you’s.
We are all forged from the same molten carbon and iron. Actually, the four most abundant elements in the human body – hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen – account for more than 99 percent of the atoms inside of us.
Another reminder, in that, in so much more. We are the same.
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“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.”
― G. K. Chesterton
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“The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.”
― Alfred Brendel
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“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.”
— Chief Joseph
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As strong as steel. A Nixon lesson.
