Commentary: If Billy Joel Didn’t Start the Fire, Who Will?

July 29th, 2008 CoyoteJ Posted in Commentary |

Coyote is a
sometimes playful,
sometimes foolish,
sometimes wise,
archetypal figure
who often
gets into trouble.

Ethicist and moral philosopher CoyoteJ asks you to consider the following hypothetical situation:

A large apartment building is completely engulfed in a terrible fire, and a huge crowd has gathered at a safe distance to watch this spectacular inferno. Suddenly, a tall man with wild hair and a crazy look in his eyes stands in front of the crowd, and at the top of his lungs shouts, theater! People in the crowd turn to one another. What did he say? The man screams again, theater!! The crowd freezes for about two seconds, and then in a complete panic they turn and stampede away, trampling several and injuring many more. Thus Coyote is forced to ask, is it ever morally permissible to shout theater at a crowded fire?

Good question. And I think in a roughly analagous way, many protesters are asking this same question in terms of their behavior at the Democratic National Convention. Walk with Coyote as he examines this interesting and important moral issue.

Of course, one of the first moral principles our parents taught us is you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater. We all understand this. And many of the protesters I have talked to believe this basic moral message is the message they are getting concerning their protest activities at the DNC. Look, they are told, things are going to be very tense in Denver during convention week. There will be gigantic crowds of excited people, and things could get tense. Please don’t do anything stupid. Don’t shout fire at this combustible situation, or things could stampede out of control very quickly. Be good, don’t be violent, and everything will be fine.

But many protesters see the moral issues from a different perspective. They look at the world and everything is not at all fine, there is corporate and state violence all over the place, so, then, what exactly does it mean for them to be good? What is the proper moral response to this problem plagued system on display at the convention? Many protesters have turned be good, don’t be violent, and everything will be fine on its head. They are told to not shout fire in this crowded theater, and they ask, well, then, may we shout theater at this crowded fire?

And the operative word here is theater. Everybody knows they will be on a gigantic world stage for four days in late August. So, some protesters ask, how can we bring theater to this crowded fire? In two ways. First, literal theater. Street plays, beautiful gigantic puppets, demonstrations, parades, and other creative endeavors. The second way to bring theater to the fire is to shake things up, disrupt plans, and engage in various levels of civil disobedience.

The key moral question is this: is Denver a crowded theater or a crowded fire? If you are the Mayor’s office, the police, the Democratic Party, or the Secret Service, Denver in August is a crowded theater, and any fires must be stamped out immediately. If you are a protester, Denver in August is a crowded fire, a blazing inferno of big money corporate interests, do nothing politicians, a war-without-end mentality, and a promise that nothing will change, all doing violence to the poor and the oppressed. To this fire all forms of theater must be shouted from the rooftops, and acted out in the streets.

So, is it ever morally permissible to shout theater at a crowded fire? Coyote thinks this is an important question. A difficult question.

Coyote thinks he needs a nap.

CoyoteJ is a Jungian oriented psychotherapist in private practice in Denver, who is very interested in the psycho dynamics of how groups work, and how groups like the police and protesters will function in the passionate environment of the Democratic national Convention. To see more Coyote’s thoughts, check out his blog at CoyoteJ.blogspot.com.