Don’t mind hurt

State’s voters understand the trick

Early in the much-honored 1962 biopic “Lawrence of Arabia,” a bored young Lt. T.E. Lawrence (masterfully portrayed by Peter O’Toole) is seen doing map-making drudge work in a dusty and cramped Cairo basement office, a minor part of the British Army contingent fighting the Turkish Army during World War I’s Mideast Campaign.

Unlike the sergeant assisting him, who is quite content to remain out of harm’s way, Lawrence yearns for the excitement (and danger) of the combat zone, far from his present duties.

An enlisted man named Potter arrives bearing a London newspaper for Lawrence, which he quickly opens, spotting an article that immediately excites him because it gives him an idea he believes will result in a combat assignment from his superiors.

In celebration, he lights a cigarette and extinguishes the match by squeezing the flame between his thumb and index finger, showing no reaction. The sergeant — who evidently has seen him do this before — admonishes Lawrence that someday he’s going to injure himself.

Intrigued, Potter strikes a match and imitates Lawrence’s method of putting out the flame, instantly recoiling in pain and crying out that the stunt had hurt. “Of course, it hurts,” Lawrence replies, mildly surprised and amused that anyone would think it wouldn’t be painful. “What’s the trick?” Potter demands.

“The trick, William Potter,” Lawrence patiently explains, “is not minding that it hurts.”

Arkansas voters have a long history (lately extended with each new election) of acting contrary to their own best interests. It dates back at least to antebellum times when pro-slavery/pro-secessionists were elected and kept in power, allowing them to steer the state into years of devastation during and after the Civil War.

For the most part, the self-imposed pain continued post-Reconstruction and well into the 20th century, occasionally briefly interrupted by the rare election of progressives. Not sufficiently interrupted, however, to avoid the shame of 1957, which continues to taint Arkansas in the eyes of residents of other states, and even foreign countries — at least in those areas where unsanitized American history is still allowed to be taught without fear of imprisonment.

Perhaps as a backlash for that outrage, for roughly three decades after Orval Faubus’ mid-1960s departure from the Arkansas political stage, a number of reasonable and competent candidates from both political parties were elected. They worked together well enough to at least give the appearance that Arkansas wanted to improve conditions for everyone.

All good things must come to an end, the saying goes, and the political pendulum swung back with a vengeance around the time we began to enter a new century. Its arc continues in that direction with no counter-swing in sight.

Nowadays, we find ourselves in the stranglehold of a growing number of ultraright-wing elected officials whose only agenda appears to be running around in circles seeking solutions for nonexistent problems, and continually chasing headlines and sound bites trying to out-demagogue each other in finding ways to make life even more miserable for those who have the misfortune of already living on the margins of our society.

Their targets are easy pickings: the poor; the elderly; homeless persons; those who have little or no health insurance; children; racial, ethnic, and certain religious minorities; and, above all, persons whose sexual orientation and/or gender identification clashes with what those in power have decreed to be “normal.” Oh, and of course, another goal is making life much more comfortable for those who are wealthy, white, and Protestant — as long as the denomination is one with the proper credentials.

Meanwhile, the real problems of the state go unaddressed, festering after each election cycle of neglect. Many of the state’s voters keep returning these same vindictive politicians to office because they have been sold a fraudulent bill of goods based on hate, fear, and the insatiable need of some people to force their values and wills on others. (“Indoctrination,” anyone?)

Ironically, however, some of those voters wind up as collateral damage in this ongoing culture war, often suffering along with the intended targets. Yet they continue to tolerate the pain inflicted on them and reelect those responsible.

Social scientists have studied this phenomenon, seeking its cause. Maybe the simplest explanation is that, unlike Lawrence’s colleague, William Potter, a substantial number of these enabling voters understand that the trick is not minding that it hurts.