A Table Is Not A Table

March 22, 2023 Jerry King Comments 0 Comment

There was a table

set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. “Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,” thought Alice; “only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.”

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: “No room! No room!” they cried out when they saw Alice coming. “There’s plenty of room!” said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

“Have some wine,” the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. “I don’t see any wine,” she remarked.

“There isn’t any,” said the March Hare.

“Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,” said Alice angrily.

“It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,” said the March Hare.

“I didn’t know it was your table,” said Alice; “it’s laid for a great many more than three.”

Yesterday I finished Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Better late than never right!? This is a story familiar to most children, but one that I did not remember. Unwilling to allow this deficit in my memory to stand, I purchased a copy of the story. Chapter 7 is entitled The Mad Tea-Party. The guests seated uncomfortably close at a spacious table are all mad. Alice finds herself in a social situation of absurd, disconnected conversation, small talk exchanged with palpable friction. The experience causes Alice to feel a little unhinged herself, a participant in a reality that does not “add up.”

Lewis’ descriptive scene is delightful, painting a picture of an abrasive failure to make social connection. I am reminded of how much of the ordinary social exchange with others is manifestly a-rational, mad, a series of non sequitur assertions, a hint that homo sapiens is an inherently disturbed mammal.

The war in Europe does not make sense. Russia insists it is a ‘special military operation’. It is a war. The larger nation’s autocrat is intent on swallowing up a smaller neighbor. The scenario is no-win for Ukraine. Servile absorption or material devastation, perhaps both. That should be a paradigm for madness. I must mention China’s Xi Jinping visit with Putin. Xi’s stated intention as peacemaker can only be characterized as surreal.

On the domestic side of things, in our USA, the New York Times reports a dilemma facing all of us. Inflation, the cost of goods now about 6% higher than this time last year, cannot be further reduced by raising interest rates. Banks which hold government bonds will find themselves pushed toward insolvency, as the bonds lose value. Bank runs are likely to follow as depositors rush to withdrawn their money… A Catch 22, and no mere thought experiment. Are we not all seated at this table? You and I participate in the economy, with each visit to the grocery store, each stop at the mini-mart to purchase gasoline.