We say in our cynical moments “All politics is theater.”
This is true, but there is a positive side to that, if we define our terms
well. Many things are theater, in a
loose sense. For example, I was part of
an online discussion years ago after George Bush had gotten off a plane looking
crisply pressed after what should have been a multi-wrinkle flight. One
commenter noted a brand of $3000 suits that were capable of doing just this,
advising us that in high-level international business people were aware of this
and noticed the cost of your suit, your shoes, shirt, tie, and all the
rest. He claimed that merely having the
right clothes on was enough to make a sale.
I was one of the ones who objected to this, saying this would be a
terrible method of making such decisions.
Not at all, he countered.
Shelling out that much money and paying close attention to detail
signals that you will play by the rules.
Not necessarily the laws of any jurisdiction, but the unwritten rules of
high-level commerce. I complained that
this placed talented newcomers at a disadvantage, but again, the man I was
arguing with disagreed. He and his
associates had all learned early to divert not only money but observational
skills and advice from others into appearance.
“You don’t put yourself in hock like that unless you plan to stick
around. You aren’t going to break other
rules and throw your insider status away. It provides very accurate signaling.” He told a few anecdotes about this and
concluded “Business is theater.”
We might call it theater, but I think a closer word would be
enactment. Enactment requires a
greater level of commitment than just putting on a show. If we want to test the sincerity of someone’s
commitment to a set of values, we often require enactment. Basic training in the military includes a lot
of enactment of military values, including drill, following orders and
cooperation, simulation of real situations.
Church worship and festivals are not supposed to just be spectator
activities, but the participant is supposed to enact the Lord’s Table. It
is part of why the fellowship of the saints and attendance at worship are not
incidental parts of worship. (Believe me, God is aware how difficult and
annoying the people at your church are. That may be the point, that we enact
here in this life what will be a reality in the next.)
Much of education is enactment. Job training (both official and unofficial)
includes much enactment. Courtship is enactment. The ceremonial aspects of town
meeting – or scout meetings, Rotary, country club membership, sorority rush, or
just about anything you can join will involve enactment. When you go to court, the bailiff says “All
Rise,” and the Judge must be addressed in specific ways. Those who are accused who arrive well-dressed
and well-groomed are signaling that they understand the rules and are willing
to play by them henceforth. They are enacting good citizenship. Are some of
them lying and attempting to manipulate?
Of course. Yet what are we to say of those who will not even nod to the
values of society as expressed in court rules, who wear their beer t-shirts to
DUI hearings? I have heard them when I
have accompanied patients to court. “I
don’t care how big he thinks he is. I’m
not going to change who I am for anyone!”
Well, you said it then, didn’t you Sam?
Raising children is about little else. We don’t want them to just hear our lessons
about politeness, we want them to greet others with respect and say please and
thank you. We have fewer gestures of politeness now and do not require
them. Boys used to bow and girls
curtsey, we would hold doors for others. The custom of holding chairs for women
at dinner has nearly vanished. Fifty
years ago at summer studies the boys were required to seat the girls at dinner,
which was a combination of discomfort and humor even then, especially the first
evening. If any girl was left standing, we all had to get up and start again.
That rarely happened after the second day. I am sure the practice vanished soon
after, but multiple values were being taught.
Respect for women was the most obvious – and women were already pointing
out that this was double-edged – but there was also respect for tradition,
respect for formality, calmness and intentionality in eating, engaging in acts
in unison as a community. Enactment requires more skin in the game than mere
words. Sometimes the additional cost is
small, sometimes the enactment comes close to the price of real demonstration. Nor is it entirely a positive. Groups can
require that you enact their pathologies as well, right from the start, to show
that you won’t turn the whole lot of them in, or betray the profession.
Politicians eat ethnic food and shake hands as a way of
enacting that they are Jes’ Folks, that they care what happens to you. They dress well partly to show they have
respect for you (or dress down in calculated ways to show the same). We don’t
want to just hear them say things, we want to see them do them. The events they attend, the gestures they
make, the people they invite, all of these are small enactments.
1 comment:
This is definitely one of Trump's troubles. He knows some political rituals at the intersection with his previous experience as a businessman and showman but, for good or ill, he is tone-deaf to the purely political ones.
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