Perhaps these three words when used together conger up some memories. Recently we watched the 1932 version of “The Wizard of Oz.” It must have been an amazing experience, particularly for the children. It had everything – black & white turning into color, a heroine, a good witch and bad witches, flying monkeys, singing and dancing, challenges to be solved, lessons to be learned, and a happy ending. You most likely know the story of the scarecrow, the tinman, and the cowardly lion’s pursuit of a brain, a heart, and courage. Along with Dorothy, who wished to go back to her home in Kansas, they went to ask the Wizard to grant them their wishes. In the end the viewer realizes that they, without the Wizard’s help, found what they were looking for by completing the task he had given them. The Wizard was revealed behind the curtain, as simply a man with a booming voice, pulling levers, and giving orders.
Watching the film, we realized how relevant it is ninety-two years later. As a country, we need the very things they were seeking: a brain, a heart, and courage. No society can live without a brain crucial to its functioning, a beating heart, and courage that empowers and sustains, all grounded in a safe and secure home.
What does a country look like when its mind (brain) is suffocated by chaos and executive orders, when its heart is hurting, and when its courage is stifled by threats of retribution? Already 103 executive orders have been signed and have become the President’s chosen method of governing.
We are beginning to know the acronyms – USAID, CDC, FDA, FED, SS, VA, EPA, and so many more. First, it should be made clear that any bureaucracy will be affected by waste and inefficiency and that most people would agree that the common-sense thing to do is to fix the problems. Our head reminds us that it is obvious, that using Musk’s “chain-saw” approach to remedy the situation is in itself foolish, ignorant, short-sighted, and more often than not, cruel. In the process of firing intelligent and experienced employees, the heart – the people part of this – are never considered. All too many people have not found the courage to raise their voices in response to the chaos and the unfairness of the present situation.
Courage is contagious and absolutely necessary for holding the present administration accountable. It will take citizens, judges, legislators, career civil servants, journalists, educators, labor unions, law firms, clergy, veterans, young people, those in the arts, and the marginalized to say it out loud, “Right now, we are a dysfunctional society. We are not healthy as revealed in how we treat people. We are empty-headed in our decision-making. We are often afraid and silent.”
We are experiencing great changes in this country. Our system of government has served us well for almost 250 years even though it has never been perfect. We fought a revolution for our freedom and wrote a constitution, which is our authority for governing. Our Constitution assures citizens that they cannot be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” The
New Deal provided people hope. We have fought alongside our allies for freedom from tyranny and we created the Marshall Plan. We passed Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. We fought for civil rights and voting rights, and passed legislation to deal with issues of child labor, climate change, hunger, housing, and corruption. We prioritized education, creating the G I Bill and Head Start. We never forgot the importance of mind, heart, and courage when solving problems, and when we fell short, we examined our mistakes and tried to correct them.
We must give an honest account, when we tell the American story, for anything less will be fiction. The kind of changes we are experiencing now are concerning to millions of people. Phrases like “We are in a pivotal moment in our history” and “our democracy is fragile” are not hyperbole these days.
A society will only experience well-being, when it finds its brain, its heart, and its courage. If a raggedy scarecrow, a rusty tinman, and a cowardly lion can do it, so can we. We’ve found those things before, and now it’s time to reclaim them. Maybe we can never go home again as we experienced it in the past, but we can, if we have the will, say along with Dorothy, “There’s no place like home,” and everything we can do to protect and preserve it will be worth it.
Walter Shelly retired after 40 years as a professor of political science at West Texas A&M University. Linda Shelly retired after 33 years of teaching sociology at West Texas A&M University and Amarillo College.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Opinion: The need for a brain, a heart, and courage, as shown in ‘Wizard of Oz’
Reporting by By Walt and Linda Shelly / Amarillo Globe-News
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