Suspension of Disbelief

If you are a reader of fiction, or a fan of film, or even a zombie under the spell of entertainment television, then you are familiar with the practice of suspending your disbelief.  “But Dale,” you say, “I wear a belt!  No braces for me thank you.”

Well, perhaps I should address this missive at a slower pace making no assumptions about the perspicacity of my audience.  Let’s begin again.  All fiction and a great deal of “documentable truth” contains some modicum of, shall we say, exaggerated fact.  What’s more, this element of untruth is usually apparent to even the least cerebral among us.  For example, our life experience has taught us superheroes do not really exist.  But for diversions sake, we will allow ourselves to accept Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman (don’t want to leave out the fair sex) can live in a world in which ultra-human exploits are not only possible but commonplace.  To enjoy this entertainment, we allow the story teller the latitude of credibility where none should exist.  We, in fact, suspend our disbelief.

While most authors (directors, et al) will confine their affront to the limits of the real world to a degree that our intelligence is not too badly insulted, there are those instances where the fabric of believability is stretched beyond our limit of forgiveness and we lose interest in the narrative.  I must admit that sometimes these forays into the ridiculous have their mirth value and I appreciate the outcome but on some plane other than the presenter’s intent.  All tastes are different, but I am particularly enamored of the “bug” movies of the 1950s: Them! (giant ants); Tarantula; Attack of the Crab Monsters; The Black Scorpion; The Deadly Mantis, etc.

I am not addressing their impact on me as a child.  Yes, as with all of you (if old enough) I would be transfixed by the television on Saturday afternoon as the hero scientist(s) engineered some incredible weapon to save us from these species of atomic mutated monsters.  No, I’m addressing the adult (or as close as I’m ever gonna get) Dale’s pleasure in re-watching them to appreciate just how truly bad they were.  I watch them without need to suspend my disbelief.  In fact, the more disbelief the better.  But hold on, I have yet to address the intent of this posting.  Are you ready?

It is truly a shame we cannot suspend disbelief in the idiotic goings on that comprise the current cycle of the presidential election pre-season.  Because no writer of fiction would dare proffer a combination of characters and actions as we have seen in the real world of 2016.  The players: A liar, a socialist, a bombast, a whiner and a delusionary hopeful.  I’ll leave it to you to figure out which is which.  And I can hardly wait to see who materializes as the parachute candidate at the Republican convention.

I am a skeptical man.  When an absolute truth is averred I am wont to engage my olfactory mechanism and take a deep whiff.  But I have tried these some sixty plus years not to become a cynic.  I want to hold out for truth and hope that those running for office really are in pursuit of the public and individual good.  I fear though, that the seeds of paranoia are beginning to sprout their arils into my heretofore resistant psyche.  To imagine that any of these presidential hopefuls from either party is equipped to turn the ship onto the right heading would require I suspend disbelief.  But unfortunately, I cannot.

James Madison

Here is the problem as I see it: Government has outgrown its beneficial qualities. The founders were motivated to wage war against the most militarily (and economically… but lack of response to last week’s blog post convinces me economics has worn thin with my venerable readership) powerful nation of the time to cast off tyrannical government.  In the debates that led to the creation of our nation, a key thesis was the limitation of government’s ability to intrude into the lives and endeavors of the citizens by specific assertion that powers not enumerated in the defining document (the Constitution, in case your falling behind) were reserved by the states or the people. And to underscore the sentiment, they appended the Bill of Rights in the form of the first ten amendments so there was no question about said Federation’s limited authority.

Thomas Jefferson

Almost immediately, a contest of wills between the two political camps; federalists (strong central government) and anti-federalists (strong state governments) resulted in the birth of the original political parties: The Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. And there has been a battle for the soul of the citizenry ever since.  This would be of less consequence if we had kept to our original intent, limited government.  But of course the thirst for power and advantage (both political and economic, which of course are unavoidably intertwined) is the very nature of human civilization and results in eternal efforts to garner favor among the voters by pandering to their wants, tangible and ethereal.

Unfortunately, the desire to receive more from the government leads to the surrender of individual freedoms; and thus we have the state of the nation today, “Ask not what I can do to secure my own treasure, but what I can expect the government (i.e., the other taxpayers… the government has no wealth of its own) to provide for me.”  Embracing this philosophy has led to a bloated, unwieldy bureaucracy that has become insatiable.

And now, the move is on to engender college attendance as a right; to be paid for by the government (uh, the taxpayers).  We are now providing rent to people who are underemployed, food to lower income families, cell phones to the disadvantaged.  And soon, if the Democrats get their way, a full college scholarship. What’s next, a Chevrolet?  And don’t you Republicans wag your fingers… you have had more than enough opportunity over that last forty years to stem the tide of personal responsibility erosion.  But is seems that fear of the loss of power share has turned the conservatives cowardly.  And I’m just talking economics here.  Let’s not even get started on social issues.

There is only one solution, but I fear it may be too late.  Too many of our fellow citizens have become snuggly tucked in the blanket of comfort and ease.  But if we were able, could somehow find it within ourselves to say no to the seductive powers of a free-spending government, we could reduce the influence that government wields over our lives and then it would not be nearly as consequential if we elect a clown, dreamer or moron to the presidency or any other government office.  They are only as important as we let them be.

So let’s get together and build one big metaphorical shoe to stomp on the giant bug… bring back DDT!