IV. Into the Breach
More than 75 years ago, a new president took the oath of office amid economic catastrophe and admonished the nation that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Today generations of Americans are experiencing a harsh tutorial in the true meaning of that resonant diagnosis. Fear is kryptonite to the economy, which cannot operate efficiently without broad and well-founded confidence — that wise investments will gain value, that balance sheets mean what they say, that contracts will be honored and bills paid.
The events of the past autumn produced the sharpest drop in consumer confidence ever recorded, and a similar wave of fear cratered credit markets. Obama notes the very real structural flaws in the economy, but he is also aware of the role that fear plays. "Nobody trusts other people's books anymore. And people decide, 'Well, I'm just going to hold on to my cash for a while,'" he explains. "And that compounds the crisis. And all that results in a contraction in lending, in consumer spending, which then has a real impact on Main Street. And so what starts off as psychological is now very real."
Yes! What if the end of the play is a "crash" of the world Brian has created? Fear overcomes the system and makes everything crash down in flames. Something begins within the characters--"starts off psychological"--and takes down the entire world with it. If we can ground this demise in palpable fear... then I think we have something immensely powerful and resonant at our fingertips.
2 comments:
I think this really translates to what compels me so much about the story of Clementine. It's not just fear, but jealousy and desire that can create consequences. This whole idea of the abstract, a feeling, creating consequences that are real, palpable, tangible. Clementine begins with the desire to strike it rich, to make it on her own, to break free of her surroundings, and her resulting behaviors cause death, a robbery, etc. I feel like this is what Doubt is also playing with.
I think that the other side of the coin here is confidence. Over-confidence in the potentials of our market, our businesses, our ability to pay back our loans, is also arguably what got us into this mess. I think that while fear may compound the results, a lack of fear is what caused those results to happen.
Fear is not the only thing we have to fear.
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