Political Ruminations on a Little Teapot
The words of the children’s song, "I’m a Little Teapot," were running through my head, recently, perhaps because they had been sung at a recent church service I attended. I began to think about the motions that accompany the song and I paused when I got to "Tip me over and pour me out". I began to think of the tea kettle I received as a gift last year. It’s a beautiful thing, lacquered white with a cap that can be closed to provide a whistling when the water boils. It’s also nearly impossible to tip over, especially if it’s full. It resembles a hemisphere with the flat diameter at the bottom.
I began to consider why my kettle would be so different than the one in the song. Then I realized that the song was written in a pre-litigious time. The song’s writer was familiar with kettles balanced to be easily poured (and easily spilled). We have come to an age where that type of kettle seems dangerous - unsafe. And so we have traded ease of pouring for perceived safety. ("Think of the children scalded by unstable teapots!")
Is there a metaphor, here, for our whole society, so desperate for security that we will give away our freedoms - to pour tea, or make healthcare decisions - for a perceived safety?
