In the sketch “Nationwide”, a self-described “rather wet” TV news program sends its reporter John Dull out to Westminster Bridge. While all the other news shows are covering World War Three, the producers of this program have instead decided to test out the latest theory: that sitting down regularly in a comfortable chair can prove relaxing. At first, the reporter finds himself greatly relaxed in his Queen Anne chair as the traffic and pedestrians stream past. Then a policeman approaches and accuses him of stealing the chair. It seems that this chair belongs to a Mrs. Edgeworth of Pinner (a suburb of London), who is holding a matching chair across the street.
We never learn the exact reason why World War Three broke out this morning, but the policeman’s actions suggest the underlying cause behind all such conflicts. On the mistaken example that Mr. Dull does not believe he is actually a policeman, the English bobby points to the official Metropolitan Identity Code on his helmet, then crosses the street to knock down Mrs. Edgeworth and return with her other chair. He never notices when another officer mugs the woman he has just wronged. Instead, with Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster in the background, he steals a notepad and a pen from passing businessmen, a box of sandwiches from two young women, and breaks into a store for two beers. Ignoring Mrs. Edgeworth’s continual struggles across the bridge, the policeman sketches out a comparison of his helmet to that of the historic Czar’s secret police. While he expounds on the prerogatives of his office, the two men enjoy their ill-gotten lunch.
How quickly some of our leaders forget that they hold positions of authority in order to better serve our individual needs! While some never forget who they are and why they hold office, others orchestrate programs that will supposedly serve the needs of specific classes or groups of citizens, and develop sweeping rules which make general categories of actions criminal. In the process, these leaders ignore or dismiss cases of genuine injustice if an individual’s situation falls between the areas covered by their broad definitions. Believing their efforts have proven worthwhile, they happily partake of the material rewards their positions entitle them to.
By regularly enjoying prerogatives most citizens cannot afford, members of this latter group distance themselves from their populace. So-called accomplishments swell their chests with pride; they view themselves as the divinely-appointed embodiment of the citizenry they represent. Competitive instincts awaken. Local and regional officials squabble for national resources, and if national leaders decide another country has more resources than their own...well, there is always an answer for that!
Aggression never rights wrongs: violence only creates successive injustices that compound the inequity they were intended to correct. State-sponsored acts of aggression disrupt the natural order, and the resultant “lesser” injustices (in this case, stealing a chair and other items from citizens, or mugging a woman for her purse) get overlooked in attempts to “uphold law and order.” Amid this chaos, whether we witness violence in the streets or watch the TV news endlessly reporting on it, the tendency is to get overwhelmed. Collapsing into paralysis, we grasp hold of what comes easily, whether it be sitting in our Queen Anne chair, watching TV, or ignoring the injustice occurring before us. I must find comfort where I can in such uncertain crimes, we tell ourselves.
No one--not the businessmen, the women, or the shopkeeper--rushes to aid Mrs. Edgeworth when the policeman tries to steal her purse. (John Dull does not even report on this flagrant violation to the cameraman!) While it does not negate one’s moral obligation, it can seem difficult for an onlooker to know whether or not he should intervene in a struggle between others he does not know, perhaps over an issue he does not fully understand. But the dilemma is an illusion: in order to preserve justice for all, individuals must rise to aid those whose rights are trampled on, especially by an authority figure.
In fighting for what she believes is hers, Mrs. Edgeworth shows us the way forward. All too often we settle for being John Dull. If only more of us could be more like Mrs. Edgeworth.
“Nationwide” can be seen in the Monty Python fourth-season episode “Hamlet.”
We never learn the exact reason why World War Three broke out this morning, but the policeman’s actions suggest the underlying cause behind all such conflicts. On the mistaken example that Mr. Dull does not believe he is actually a policeman, the English bobby points to the official Metropolitan Identity Code on his helmet, then crosses the street to knock down Mrs. Edgeworth and return with her other chair. He never notices when another officer mugs the woman he has just wronged. Instead, with Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster in the background, he steals a notepad and a pen from passing businessmen, a box of sandwiches from two young women, and breaks into a store for two beers. Ignoring Mrs. Edgeworth’s continual struggles across the bridge, the policeman sketches out a comparison of his helmet to that of the historic Czar’s secret police. While he expounds on the prerogatives of his office, the two men enjoy their ill-gotten lunch.
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| John Dull sat here in his "stolen" chair, long before the arrival of the London Eye. |
How quickly some of our leaders forget that they hold positions of authority in order to better serve our individual needs! While some never forget who they are and why they hold office, others orchestrate programs that will supposedly serve the needs of specific classes or groups of citizens, and develop sweeping rules which make general categories of actions criminal. In the process, these leaders ignore or dismiss cases of genuine injustice if an individual’s situation falls between the areas covered by their broad definitions. Believing their efforts have proven worthwhile, they happily partake of the material rewards their positions entitle them to.
By regularly enjoying prerogatives most citizens cannot afford, members of this latter group distance themselves from their populace. So-called accomplishments swell their chests with pride; they view themselves as the divinely-appointed embodiment of the citizenry they represent. Competitive instincts awaken. Local and regional officials squabble for national resources, and if national leaders decide another country has more resources than their own...well, there is always an answer for that!
Aggression never rights wrongs: violence only creates successive injustices that compound the inequity they were intended to correct. State-sponsored acts of aggression disrupt the natural order, and the resultant “lesser” injustices (in this case, stealing a chair and other items from citizens, or mugging a woman for her purse) get overlooked in attempts to “uphold law and order.” Amid this chaos, whether we witness violence in the streets or watch the TV news endlessly reporting on it, the tendency is to get overwhelmed. Collapsing into paralysis, we grasp hold of what comes easily, whether it be sitting in our Queen Anne chair, watching TV, or ignoring the injustice occurring before us. I must find comfort where I can in such uncertain crimes, we tell ourselves.
No one--not the businessmen, the women, or the shopkeeper--rushes to aid Mrs. Edgeworth when the policeman tries to steal her purse. (John Dull does not even report on this flagrant violation to the cameraman!) While it does not negate one’s moral obligation, it can seem difficult for an onlooker to know whether or not he should intervene in a struggle between others he does not know, perhaps over an issue he does not fully understand. But the dilemma is an illusion: in order to preserve justice for all, individuals must rise to aid those whose rights are trampled on, especially by an authority figure.
In fighting for what she believes is hers, Mrs. Edgeworth shows us the way forward. All too often we settle for being John Dull. If only more of us could be more like Mrs. Edgeworth.
“Nationwide” can be seen in the Monty Python fourth-season episode “Hamlet.”
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