People love thrill rides.  Go to any amusement park and you can hear the screams from those who voluntarily put themselves on roller coasters.  Until it was recently replaced, Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri had an old ride called Fire in the Hole that I rode most years since I was a kid back in the  70s until they closed it down a few years ago.  It was essentially an indoor, fire brigade themed roller coaster that took passengers through a dark, burning Ozark hellscape.  Terrorized by a gang of vigilantes called Bald Knobbers, who wore cloth sacks on their heads, and looked and acted just a little too much like another local group of sheet wearing miscreants. It seemed the Bald Knobbers just weren’t happy unless they were burning their community to the ground.

And then there was the fact that that the line leading to the ride snaked through a fake “boot hill” style fireman cemetery full grave markers with funny epitaphs.

But instead of tragic, it’s set up to be a little bit funny with Red Flander’s backside hanging out a burning window putting his red long johns underwear on full display.  If you’ve ridden the ride you know the line that comes next…

“Red Flanders!  Get back in here and put yer pants back on!”
“I ain’t got no pants no more.  The dang Bald Knobbers done stole them!”

As a roller coaster it was tame by modern standards.  There were three big drops on the ride, the first was a burning, covered bridge where the tracks were broken and you plummeted off the edge into the darkness, the second when you met an oncoming train and finally the big drop where you heard “Fire in the hole!” when it felt like the earth gave way beneath you and you dove down into the darkness until you splashed in water and strobe lights.

Screams followed by laughter.
Then the ride was over.
On to something else.

It was creepy in the way that a lot of old amusement park rides were creepy.  It had an unsettling fear factor mixed with the rush of adrenaline.

Yet somehow we survived.  We escaped death.  Over and over and over.

And we loved it.  Each time coming out with our bodies pumping all kinds of feel good juices through our veins.

It was fun because it wasn’t real.  We knew it wasn’t real.  We knew the bridge wasn’t really on fire.  We knew the tracks weren’t really broken.  We knew the fire and gunshots were fake.

We knew we were just suspending belief for a bit and fooling the lower reaches of our brains to believe we were in life threatening situations that we miraculously survived.

It was a perfectly safe ride dressed up as adventure and danger.

In reality there was an entire infrastructure of people and machinery and safety protocols hidden behind the illusion to make sure the train didn’t run off the tracks.

There was no reason to worry because there were no consequences for going on the ride.

Had it been real, it would have been the stuff of nightmares.

And to be sure there are real nightmares out there.  And there are real men in masks out there burning communities to the ground.

Which brings me to our modern American roller coaster.  It seems like the current ruling class believes there are no consequences for lack of maintenance.

And we’re heading toward that burning bridge and watching the tracks begin to come apart.

And some still seem to believe it’s an illusion.

A thing is designed and created to help do a task. A government is established. A business is created. A farm is developed. A school is founded. A church is built. All created to serve a particular function. None of them created simply for the sake of existence. An institution is born.

A government is established to manage the needs of a group of people. To create an infrastructure so that the people can function collectively. To make sure the roads are drivable, to ensure the school has what it needs to educate children, to keep order at times, to be a referee and occasionally step in to try to create an environment where someone who’s willing to put in the work has a fair chance at success. To serve the people of a region so that the maximum number of them have protection and an opportunity to thrive are the primary purposes of those efforts. People are generally willing to contribute and pay their share of taxes as long as they feel that they’re getting something equitable for the money they’re required to pay. I pay my taxes and the road in front of my house gets paved and maintained. Peace and prosperity are byproducts of a functioning society.

The institution remains true to the function it was designed to serve. The institution thrives. Form follows function.

Over time, the focus changes.  Those who don’t believe in government place themselves within government.  They believe the roller coaster maintains itself.

Yet fail to govern.

Those in roles of service are seduced or replaced by others with power and influence who want to be first in line for the pool of resources. They no longer want to serve. They want to be in charge. Instead of ensuring everyone has a fair chance for success, they tip the scales incrementally to serve a few. I pay my taxes and the city rezones a neighborhood to commercial zoning and seizes my land through eminent domain because a tech company with money and influence wants to put in a data center.

Over time prosperity of the population weakens in certain neighborhoods and prosperity shifts to poverty. Poverty causes cracks in peace. Cracks in the peace create fear. That fear causes people lose faith in the government. Lack of faith in government turns to hostility.

The institution has become disconnected from its purpose and no longer serves the function that it was created to do and eventually collapses. Function follows form.

There is no Roosevelt in the White House with a steady hand on the helm.
There is no Cronkite on the television calmly reporting the evening news.

The tracks break.
But the train is still coming.
Fire in the hole.