The foot-race has been a frequent metaphor in American political and economic life. Garry Wills explored the subject in Nixon Agonistes, which was written around 40 years ago, and so have others.
It's not an American thing either. The apostle Paul also used foot-race metaphors, and so does the book of Hebrews: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1).
Recalling Nixon Agonistes, Ed Kilgore observes:
Conservatives, he (Wills) observed, tend to concentrate on the purity of competition, while liberals stress a “fair start” in the race of life. Nobody much doubts the basic scheme of individual success, at least ideally, as reflecting individual worth, but there is significant variation in how much public intervention is necessary to establish “fair” rules for the race.
Julian Castro, in last night's keynote speech at the Democratic convention, gave the old metaphor a new spin: “The American Dream is not a sprint or a marathon; it’s a relay.”
It's not just about individual achievement, in other words, but also about the journey of a people. It's not just about "winning" a race, but about how people together navigate a whole terrain of experience through time.
That sounds rather close to the author of Hebrews. For the author of Hebrews, the emphasis is not on winning the race. The race itself is "set before us," after all. We have no choice but to "run" it.
It's also not an individualistic race. "Let us" run," says Hebrews, and "let us run with perseverance", which means exertion over time, through long effort, maybe even through several generations--a relay, one might say.
I wish I could remember where I read that social policy in America has been designed to give a headstart in the race, when what we really need is to call off the race entirely.
Posted by: lillianjane | September 05, 2012 at 12:43 PM
It's not the best metaphor--I like "journey" better--but it's certainly been around awhile.
Posted by: John Petty | September 10, 2012 at 12:26 PM