“Stories do not materialize from a void but grow out of materials already in history and human experience.” Reading this sentence written by Robert McKee, who is writing about constructing screenplays, reminded me that in the real world there are stories that we live each moment of our lives. These stories have structures, events, beginnings, middles and endings. The outcomes of our personal stories don’t usually break the rules of probability. We always look for positive, happy outcomes for our stories, but in reality happy endings are not always likely outcomes in the actuality in which we find ourselves living. We make decisions and choices but they are often following a pattern, of which we may not be aware. One may dream of being a concert pianist, but without ten thousand hours of practice, study and some natural talent, the probability of that performance at Carnegie Hall in NYC is remote.
What of the political party stories in which we live and vote in the United States? While there are other stories, the main two scenarios, are a Republican story and a Democratic story. The outcomes or actions in these two stories are always predictable and do not change. Each party may attack candidates running for office in the other party. Candidates in each party may attack each other. But it really doesn’t matter who the person running is, if you vote for a Republican you are voting for the Republican story. If you vote for the Democrat, you are voting for a Democratic Story.
I saw a woman on a Facebook video talking about loosing her job in a manufacturing plant owned by Carrier. A factory where the Republican candidate for President told her that she and the other workers would not lose their jobs. Vote for him! He would be sure to stop the company from “outsourcing” work to foreign countries. He would “build a wall.” She said she voted for him because of this fact. But now she was loosing her job because the company was moving production to another country. She was practically begging the President, she helped elect, to keep his promise. However, keeping jobs in America is not part of the Republican story. The candidate ran as a Republican. She is a working class person who voted for the Republican Story.
This phenomenon of working and middle class people voting for Republican candidates, who make promises that don’t fit the plot line of the Republican Party’s story, repeats itself constantly. So, of course these promises are not kept. They are improbable outcomes under a Republican administration. The Republican story never benefits working and middle class people beyond a few superficial perks. The main benefits are always directed at the top one percent and corporate interests. Campaigns supposedly directed at curbing “alleged welfare abuses,” are not just about welfare recipients, they are about cutting larger social programs. When services are cut, the money saved goes to the rich in the form of tax cuts.
All social reform, middle and working class advances financially and socially come under Democratic Administrations. Republican Administrations always try to take away these benefits. Republican conservatives have never stopped trying to undo Social Security, Medicare and recently the Affordable Care Act. They strip services, and give tax breaks to the wealthy. The story never changes. Yet people are manipulated, persuaded, perhaps on emotional grounds or other issues, to vote against their own best interests. In the back of their minds, they must know how the story ends, but they still buy into an improbable fantasy.
The same people would not suspend disbelief while watching a movie, where the main protagonist chose a course of action that doomed her, even though it was obvious to her that the choice was not good for her survival. For example trusting her life to a pathological liar. Falling off the high cliff into the rocky surf, thousands of feet below, always ends up the same way in reality. The story has only one possible ending. This is not an animated fantasy film.
I hope that voters in elections, now and in the fall, think about what story they are actually voting for. You can help write the story if you vote. Ignore all the rhetoric, spin, negative ads and appeals to tribalism. Vote for a story that will benefit your life and keep the story of the United States, one of the ongoing “noble experiment in democracy” and freedom for all.
Books by James R Martin
Available print and digital on Amazon
Listen Learn Share: How & Why Listening, Learning and Sharing can Transform Your Life Experience In Practical Ways
Documentary Directing and Storytelling: How to Direct Documentaries and More!
Actuality Interviewing and Listening: How to conduct successful interviews for nonfiction storytelling, actuality documentaries and other disciplines … (Documentary and Nonfiction Storytelling)
