It was almost impossible for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which closed in pomp and circumstance Sunday, to go unnoticed. The pitiful state of the American political scene should be equally prominent in the country’s consciousness.
The Olympic event that surprised me in drawing my full philosophical attention is none other than the leaping swordplay commonly known as fencing. The more I read about the sport’s rules, the more I realized candidates today lack the sport’s grace.
My logic and ethics classes taught me nearly every argument that graced some congressman’s lips was completely fallacious — or to put it in other terms: “hogwash.”
In these classes, we discussed the power of any point just as much as the points made against it. I learned that progress in any conflict is not achieved by countless dimwitted attacks, but rather through an ability to listen, process, understand, relate, adapt and act as a well-rounded individual. Most of our nation’s leaders lack these values.
In all fencing events aside from the Épée, there is a classical rule known as the ‘Right of Way.’ Essentially, it states that the only way a victim of an attack may win a point is to first defensively deal with an opponent’s attack, usually by means of a “parry” maneuver, and then successfully counter-attack, usually by means of a “riposte.” If the victim of an attack decides to handle the situation by entering into an offensive attack, they are sure to lose the point, as the “Right of Way” goes to the instigator of the first attack maneuver.
This tactic is self-destructive, yet we see it happen to even the most highly trained athletes in times of panic or confusion. Sadly, this seems to be the only tactic most politicians know. None of them know how to deflect a blow by understanding the momentum and direction of the quickly approaching blade of their opponent’s counter, so they resort to horrendous attacks.
Not only do they sacrifice the chance to speak for their cause by mudslinging and losing the point, they won’t hit their target anyway. Most of what they respond with are heated rants driven by personal conflict — and which others will recognize as being exactly such.
Lets compare our nation’s leaders to fencers of the Épée class of weaponry — where the ‘Right of Way’ rule is done away with. When two opponents attack one another simultaneously, they both receive points. Yet fencers don’t really celebrate this because neither fencer has truly drawn ahead in winning — however, both fencers are coming closer to losing.
There is a maximum number of points to be reached in fencing, and one does not want to share any of them. The level of risk is high here. So, though a candidate such as Donald Trump may be a hotshot when it comes to trash-talk, and his party might love him for it, he plays a truly dangerous game. That same candidate’s opposition might launch their own attacks, and their people might love them too, yet their game is equally lethal.
Neither draws closer to true victory, as neither truly seeks to maintain the composure to execute any parries or ripostes. They don’t wish to calmly handle their enemy’s words, assess those words and then respond to those words accordingly; they only wish to yell their claims louder than their opponent’s.
They listen not to understand, but rather laying in wait for their turn to speak. They cannot dodge, nor evade, nor point-in-line, but rather lunge and lunge until their legs break.
Jordan Marcell is a 19-year-old studio photography and linguistic antrhopology sophomore from Geismar, Louisiana.