Realism a la Chesterton

The last several weeks on the national political stage have been discouraging. The footage has rolled and my confidence in the actors and their methods has been eroded. The observers and their willingness to take the talking points of their preferred side has also been demoralizing. 

Time and again I was reminded of a passage by Chesterton describing pessimism and optimism. 

He spoke of the two evils of pessimism and optimism. The evil of pessimism is not merely that one chastises but that one does not love what he chastises. The evil of optimism is the willingness to defend the indefensible in that which one loves. 1

Both are a vice and both show their face in ugly ways. 

The vast majority of the participants played in these two camps. The senators lined up, the media lined up, and the people lined up as well.

When the Ford accusation came out, one side, at its worst, took it as an opportunity to attack Kavanaugh, whom they had already decided to hate.  The other side, at its worst, took to defending the accusation as no big deal, if it was true, or deriding the process.

Few seemed to care about what was true.  And what is true matters profoundly. I did not see many thoughtfully and carefully weighing accusations or reports. I saw any and all thrown as bombs to hurt and defame.

I did not see much kindness toward Ford. I saw a woman's pain being used as a tool on national screens. I saw deep hurt, pain, and trauma thrown into a public arena instead of being walked through in a private place. What a shame. We should be better than that.

I saw a man strive to defend himself, his name, to an audience that seemed to care more about the political expedience than the plausibility.

I saw great examples of pessimism and optimism. Two examples for how to live and respond. Thankfully, our choice is not a binary one. We are often told that it is. "Pick a side." But in this case, as with many others, their is a third option: realism.

Realism, a la Chesteron, is a desire for the truth. It is characterized by a vigorous effort to find it and a courage to stand with it. It also seems that the realists are less often the cynics and more often the kind ones. More often, the ones that talk with nuance and experience heartbreak in the midst of complicated situations. 

I long for the realists. The ones that see the broken people and hurt for them. The ones that long for truth and not just political points. The ones that will not allow the cultural moment to sweep them away and dictate their thoughts and actions, regardless of which side they belong to. I long for the ones that care about what happened, in any situation. I long for the ones that keep their eyes clear. 

These fights will not end. The past couple weeks have been escalated and vicious. There may be a hiatus but you can be sure this gridiron game will happen again.

And when that day comes it will be shouted again, "There are two teams. Two tribes. You must pick one."

As one who knows the maker of the universe and the mystery of Christ, I am responsible to search for truth. I do not get the luxury, or handicap, of being given a political playbook and a team jersey. 

Instead, I will sift for what is true, painstaking as that may be, and endeavor to stand there. Even though both sides will be shouting and demanding a binary choice. 

I have attached a video of one speech I noticed that longed for realism. If you know of others, regardless of party affiliation, I would like to see it.

1. Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy, New York, Dover, 2004. page 61 ff

Details

Details are hard. They take time to read. Sometimes the fine print is confusing or the technical terms are not readily known. Often times it takes a wealth of subject understanding to be able to use the details. And yet, I see time after time a detail or statistic or fact about some massively complex issue being cited as reason for outrage or fear or worry.

1 in 10,000 babies die from disease x

23 Million people will drop from health care coverage

There is a 1 in 5 chance a major earthquake will happen in the next 50 years

All of these statements can be causes of fear or anger when cited as a headline. But none of them give the ignorant reader the context to understand.

The first: 1 in 10,000 makes a mother think of her ONE baby and many people are not able to see that number as essentially 0 (.000001). This is just an example but you get the idea.

I can't tell you how many statistics of death or serious diseases I had to walk through during my wife's recent pregnancy. Each was presented as a reason for great alarm and ceasing some activity or consumption of a food or beverage.

The second headline: can we all just admit there are few people that actually understand health care coverage completely and one quick sentence cited in our favorite media outlet is a poor source for informing our opinion on a 200 page document? Or am I the only one that has frustrating conversations with my health insurance provider about the definition of “Maximum Out of Pocket Expense"? I have had to apologize too many times about my tone after talking with the customer service representative.

The third: the Big One… the fabled earthquake coming our way. I’m not even sure what to do with that information. Can we actually mitigate that? In 50 years? It sounds so catastrophic we should be praying to God for mercy.

I have only heard the stat used as justification to have earthquake valves installed on your gas meters. Because a residential gas leak is going to be a major concern if the Willamette Valley is flooded by a Tsunami.

Madison said in the Federalist Papers that "knowledge will always rule over ignorance." The lesson is two fold. If you want to rule, gain knowledge. Secondly an admonition, if one has knowledge a wise and kind person will wield it over the ignorant with grace and consideration for their good.

I was a service tech for an HVAC company for 5 years. I know the details of a gas furnace and it's inner workings far more than I want to. I am an expert. But every day I would simplify my explanation and give people the information they needed to make a decision about the heating source of their home. I explained what was needed for safety and effectiveness. And I never said in an alarmist fashion, “Your furnace is a metal box filled with multiple nozzles pouring burning gas and fumes at 1,950 degrees and your only protection between the deadly flue gases and you is several millimeters of aging steel.” It is true but it was not helpful. I know many people for whom that would have only caused them to lay awake at night or shut off their furnace for fear of death.

Instead, everyday, I knew it was my responsibility to educate for their good. Not my sale, not an added accessory. For their good. That is a hard task and one any leader, educator, writer, or influencer should take as a heavy load.

I am not asking us to avoid details but I would have us explain them and educate our listeners rather than propagate a fact that sounds like something worth clicking. Unfortunately, the ones that would listen to this plea are not the problem.