The Hunted and the Hunters

Fairness is not the game we play.

Baseball, like American football, is a hunter’s game. The “fox” is released, and the hunt is on. Both are attempts to limit or end the freedom of the prey.

Defense holds the field with an array of warriors. While in football the fox at least has the aid of blockers, in baseball its one against many, unless a teammate can sacrifice himself.

Like a hunted animal scurrying for home, the runner uses cunning and hopes the pursers commit errors or are distracted.

It is a hunter’s game. Few even make it to a first safe place.

Americans can’t wait to take off, to beginning their dream. To bat. We hold them back as long as we can. We extend adolescence. For them, it may look easy at first. The young are confident as they advance to the plate. The batter glares with menace at the pitcher.

They soon learn life’s first lesson. The enemy owns the field, and the fox will be pursued with deadly force once he leaves his den.

Playing America’s game is not about fairness. Don’t think that. It is a fragile hope and a dangerous illusion. The reality is that you get your turn at bat and, if you hit the ball, you are allowed to enter the world, only to become the hunted. What fairness there is, lies in that opportunity, promised to all. That is the nature of the American system. The individual against the world…except for the few who are born on third base and act like they hit a triple.

There are two ways to view the American Dream (the American Promise). One way is to see it as a contract. You follow the rules and work hard, and you deserve rewards. The other is a vision of a better future for you and for others. In this sense it is an ideal that all have the right to pursue. But, with no guarantee of success. The acceptance of opportunity does not necessarily offer a downhill path or even a level field. Even more, it is not the same path for everyone. People face different obstacles and more frequent. They differ in natural abilities and their early choices (and that of their society) affect the development of these gifts. Gifts, because life is curated from birth to death by Fate. Call it Fortune. Call it Luck. Capitalize the word and treat it as a God, or try to explain, as so many due, that one’s own good fortune is earned and another’s undeserved.

The games we play mirror the life we are living. That is why they are so intense and so real. We need to take a cold and sober look at these games. For if our games reflect our lives and our lives reflect our “play,” we may find one is a more objective and clearer image than the other.

And take counsel.

Spoilers alert. If I were to finish this post, I might add that, however much we prefer to be at bat, our success may arrive when we, in turn, take the field. Democrats, be hopeful.