He insists that leaders can come from any background. Raised in poverty in Detroit by a semi-literate mother who was one of 24 children, he succeeded because of his faith in God and his mother’s insistence that he study hard and not accept his disadvantages as permanent. When he was 15, he almost stabbed a friend to death in a fit of anger. He went home, locked himself in a bathroom, and prayed to God to remove his anger before it prevented him from realizing his dreams of becoming a doctor. He has never had an issue with his temper since.
When asked what he thinks are the biggest obstacles facing the country, Carson singles out political correctness and the “deliberate dumbing down of our public schools.” He says, “Our schools too often want to shut people up so they can’t talk about real solutions. People who think differently tend to clam up because they think something is wrong with their ideas.” Another problem is people who indiscriminately accuse others of racism or sexism. “Illogical thinkers throw names and slurs around because they have no arguments with which to rebut their opponents,” he tells me. “Rational people have to keep hammering their points home.”
Honesty and political correctness have never gotten along, which is precisely the reason the lefty talking heads were exploding after Carson’s National Prayer Breakfast speech.
Also, for you social media types out there, the good doctor is now on Twitter:
Today I’ve officially joined the twitterverse.
— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) February 15, 2013
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