In 1944, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello performed one of the best comedy dialogs of all time. If you’ve never heard it, you should check it out. It starts like this:
Abbott: Well, Costello, I’m going to New York with you. You know Bucky Harris, the Yankee’s manager, gave me a job as coach for as long as you’re on the team.
Costello: Look Abbott, if you’re the coach, you must know all the players.
Abbott: I certainly do.
Costello: Well, you know I’ve never met the guys. So, you’ll have to tell me their names, and then I’ll know who’s playing on the team.
Abbott: Oh, I’ll tell you their names, but you know it seems to me they give these ball players now-a-days very peculiar names.
Costello: Funny names?
Abbott: Strange names, pet names… Well, let’s see, we have on the St Louis team, Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know is on third…
Costello: That’s what I want to find out.
Abbott: I say Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know’s on third.
Costello: Are you the manager?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: You gonna be the coach too?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: And you don’t know the fellows’ names?
Abbott: Well, I should.
Costello: Well then who’s on first?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: I mean the fellow’s name.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy on first.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The first baseman.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy playing…
Abbott: Who is on first!
Costello: I’m asking YOU who’s on first.
Abbott: That’s the man’s name.
Costello: That’s who’s name?
Abbott: Yes.
_____
This routine is as timeless as it was flawless. It illustrates a central problem of communication. Often, we can talk to each other but the meaning of what we’re saying can remain hilariously unclear, no matter what our intentions are.
Here’s a current example. We keep hearing people say, “America First.” But what does this mean? No doubt some mean to show their patriotism. For some, America First might mean we should take care of people here before we take care of others. Putting the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on your kids comes to mind. What good will we be to our kids (or the rest of the world) if we are no longer able to help? I think most people might agree with this general idea.
The problem comes when people either don’t know what they mean by America First, or when they mean that America is somehow special – exceptional – and therefore merits being first or above all other lands and peoples. The word, first, can have several meanings after all. It’s easy to think that one’s country is better than others and therefore it is justified in claiming to be first. Based on this kind of thinking, one could also say, “people like me” or “white people” first.
Or could some people mean the winners – the wealthy – are first? Then the losers will not be first, or even second or third. There is a political philosophy that argues only a few – male landowners – are qualified to rule. Perhaps some really believe in the supremacy of their group or country. While a few people have managed to win the life lottery, does this make them better than others?
Words and beliefs can be a tangled thicket. “In the beginning was the Word.” And the word was misinterpreted and misunderstood. We lack clarity. We lack self-reflection. We often lack humility. I know I’m guilty of all of these. It’s all too easy to argue self-importance, nationalism, or world domination. Maybe the real question is, “Who really ought to be first?”
While we should honor our country, we need to realize it cannot stand on its own, especially at this time in history. Our fate is intertwined with many other countries. If “no man is an island,” as Donne wrote, no country is either. Clearly, we can’t just insist upon getting our own way all the time. This is a toddler’s approach to life, and it won’t do much good when we need to cooperate with other nations to prosper and survive.
Who really ought to be first, then? Not any of us, I’m sure. All major religions have tried to teach us to be peacemakers, to promote justice and mercy, to act with integrity, to seek goodness, truth, and beauty, to be kind and generous, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and so on. Great moral ideals are beyond politics, and well beyond the notion of putting ourselves first. If one practices a religion, there are teachers to follow. It seems to me their ideas ought to be first. Even if one makes no claim to a religion, there are still principles.
Asking, “Who ought to be first?” is a lot like asking, “What are your principles?” The answer may be a head scratcher. We need to coach our beliefs. We need to manage what we mean. We need to examine what the consequences of our principles might be. We need to question what we value and admit when we really don’t know. Who’s on first. Who indeed is. What’s on second. Certainly. I Don’t Know is on third. Of course. And being the coach ain’t easy.
MurrayWorks 