Familiarity breeds contempt. Or neglect. We see this all the time. We grow tired of things often in our lives. In relationships. In politics. With music. With food. With jobs. It’s important that we mix things up from time to time. Or in many cases, to reenergize or recommit.

Maybe—just maybe—we became so accustomed to U.S. manufacturing “just being there” that we didn’t care to protect it. To nurture it. Or even notice it anymore.

Do you ever think about the wheel? Any wheel? Wheels in general?

I don’t. I mean, sitting around expending time and energy thinking about the wheel would be sorta weird, don’t you think? Or at least wasteful. Or obsessive. Or maybe even somewhat dysfunctional.

But I’d like you to suspend your reluctance to do such a seemingly wasteful thing for just a moment, and consider the importance of the wheel to societies, cultures, economies, and quality of life. And I don’t just mean to picture a wheel in your head and meditate on it. I mean to look for examples around you, and consider if there’s a wheel in them. Or what role a wheel might have played in their existence.

Seriously. Try it.

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