Mob of runners in Goldy’s Run after crossing the finishing line at the 50-yard line of the football stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. Photo credit: Colin Peterson
It must be one of the best kept secrets in modern history. In Agatha Christie’s murder mystery play, The Mousetrap, who killed Mrs. Boyle? Recently I joined the growing mob of more than 10 million people who have seen the play, running continuously since it opened in 1952.
After the cast of the Guthrie performance had lined up to take their bows, one of them leaned toward the audience, gestured shhhh, and admonished 700 theater goers to keep secret the murderer’s identity. While not quite as threatening as the mob rule of omertà, I did take the warning seriously. My wife knew beforehand, but wouldn’t tell me, nor did I ask or even want to know.
The morning after the play found me in another mob, nearly 7,000 runners participating in Goldy’s Run at the University of Minnesota campus. A flowing river of humanity jogged along Fourth Avenue and through the campus on a sunny, brisk morning for 5k, 10k, or 10 miles.
While also not a rule as serious omertà, the ingrained culture among runners of camaraderie and polite consideration commanded you to control your elbows and refrain from tripping others or stepping on their feet. Rules of the road runners, so to speak.
A third mob gathered Saturday at the Minnesota state capitol. An estimated 25,000 shouting ‘hands off’ echoed similar protests nationwide. Estimates run into the hundreds of thousands of citizens incensed about what’s happening to our government, rule of law, even American culture, caused by the mob currently in control from the White House.
If any of these groups resemble a mob, it’s the latter. It seems as if they have imposed omertà on the Republican party, the Mafia code of silence, and if broken, punishable by death, politically speaking. In comparison, only about 2,000 people attended the Jan. 20 inauguration, held in the U.S. Capitol rotunda to avoid the embarrassment having a relatively small crowd if held outside.
The story behind the lines
In The Mousetrap, a death is more than just a part of the plot. Christie was moved to base the theme on a real case in which a child was beaten to death by abusive foster parents. This somber background appears in the playbill, which states: “According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, more than one million children are victims of maltreatment, with a death toll of about 1,500 children annually.”
For Christie, it was the story of a 12-year-old boy in England who was beaten by foster parents and died in 1945. The case “prompted a revolution in childcare in the U.K… which led to the Children Act on 1948.” The play “exposes audiences’ fear of what happens when the most vulnerable among us are made unsafe.”
So far there is no evidence that budget cuts by the White House mob have affected programs that protect children from abuse, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that happened. Several states recently have enacted laws reducing child labor protections. Employers in Iowa can seek permits allowing 14-year-olds to work in meat coolers and industrial laundries, 15-year-olds on assembly lines with dangerous machinery, and 16-year-olds to serve alcohol in restaurants.
Running back through time
The Goldy’s Run course took us along the old mall leading toward Northrop Memorial Auditorium. Seeing the huge Greek columns fronting Northrop and other stately buildings such as Walter Library, Morrill and Johnston Halls, reminded me of the classical Greek philosophers. Also, Pheidippides, the Greek soldier who in 490 BCE ran 26 miles bearing good news about a battle, which inspired the modern marathon.
The theme of this part of the mob story could be the decline of classical education and dumbing down enough of the general populace to blindly follow the White House mob that cares only about its wealth and power and will stop at nothing to attain it.
Aristotle is said to have condemned the mass of humankind to natural slavery. Our modern society has made a credible effort to counter that by educating citizens enough to participate in a democratic government. As we see education measures decline, and too many people being brainwashed by demagogues, the future of our democratic republic grows less clear.
In The Great Conversation, Robert Maynard Hutchins writes: “If the people are incapable of achieving the education that responsible democratic citizenship demands, then democracy is doomed.” He wrote that in 1952.
Since then, we have endured the Postmodern Era where cynicism, skepticism, irony, and subjective truth have prevailed. In 2017 we were stunned to hear the term “alternative facts” from Kellyanne Conway. Donald Trump has been called “America’s First Post-Modern President,” (Jeet Heer, The New Republic, July 18, 2017). While the MAGA populist movement had been underway years before, it finally broke into the White House. “Trump’s ascendance is no accident. He’s the culmination of our epoch of unreality.”
Running through the campus inspired me to recall the ancient Greek philosophers. I wondered what would Plato say about the world of politics today, or Descartes? Plato believed we should be led by philosopher-kings, not demagogues. Rene Descartes, the 17th century French philosopher, is famously known for the saying, “I think therefore I am.” What about someone currently in power who doesn’t seem to think, at least rationally? At least there’s some hope, evident in the big protest rallies around the country.
Tale of two mobs
Being away from our community last weekend we missed the local “hands off” rally where about 600 people attended. We did drive by the Capitol rally in St. Paul in time to see some of the estimated 25,000 people leaving. Slogans on homemade signs showed great creativity.
If numbers mean anything, the growing mob of people protesting the mob regime in Washington will far outnumber the MAGA mob. Their power comes from controlling the levers of power in our government. However, political power can be generated by people joining together in a common goal of defending and restoring our democratic republic.
It inspires hope that enough people value our government enough to become involved in rallies, speaking out, supporting good candidates, and voting. The next “Hands Off” rally is scheduled for April 19 across all 50 states, organized by the group 50501 ; “Join us in the fight to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach.” I already have my sign, Trump, Musk, Vance – You’re Fired!
