Would you feel pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? – Harry Lime, in The Third Man
Harry Lime was a scoundrel. Working in post WWII Berlin, he made a killing stealing penicillin from military hospitals, watering it down, and then selling it on the black market to desperate people who could not afford it elsewhere. People were dying as a result.
Such is the plot of the film, The Third Man, an intense drama starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton (and written by Graham Greene). The film is perhaps best known for its ‘Ferris Wheel Scene,’ in which Lime (Welles) is confronted with his crimes by his long-time friend, Holly Martins (Cotton). The two men ride a Ferris wheel to its apex, at which point Martins asks Lime if he knows any of his victims. Lime derisively directs Martins’ attention to the fairground far below, where people appear as mere dots moving around, and says the following in defense of his crimes:
‘Would you feel pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you 20,000 pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep the money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man…free of income tax. It’s the only way to save money these days.’
Such is the moral system of Harry Lime. Dots, that is, human lives, are expendable. At least from a distance. And for the right price.
I hear echoes of Lime’s philosophy in our world today. Ours is a time of crisis. A novel virus is spreading, and the government has sensibly imposed certain restrictions. Social distancing. Stay at home orders. The closing of non-essential businesses. All designed to slow the spread and save lives. The science behind such moves is indisputable. But these steps come with an economic cost. People have been laid off, some temporarily, some perhaps permanently. Businesses are on the brink. The stock market has plunged. There may well be a global recession, or worse, a depression. The actions we are taking to save lives are having a deleterious effect upon the economy.
And that has made some people angry. In an infamous post on social media that has generated tremendous debate, a California attorney made the case that we should not sabotage the economy to save lives. Especially because, in this attorney’s view, those most at risk are unproductive. In other words, the elderly, the immune-compromised, and the weaker ‘dots’ in our society are expendable, all in service to the national economy. And he is not alone. Many in our society, and our government, are echoing the same sentiments, even if expressed in more subtle terms. Heck, even some Christians, who supposedly follow a Savior who cherished the most vulnerable, have come down on the side of saving the economy over saving lives.
And so the question resounds across our land – and in the church: is it worth risking the economy to save lives?
Before answering that question, I want to acknowledge that I know this is not just a question of what happens to the money of billionaires. Ordinary people are hurting. Workers have lost jobs. Small businesses face closure. In all of this, it will surely be the poor who suffer most. This is real. It is therefore encouraging that there are many in government who are at least trying to ameliorate the effects of social distancing on the economy. I applaud the effort, and encourage elected officials on both sides of the aisle to use this opportunity to not only aid those impacted by this crisis, but to restructure society and systems to ensure that everyone, and especially the poor and vulnerable, in both times of prosperity and times of crisis, has enough. And I would certainly encourage the Church to use its resources to help those who are hurting. John the Baptizer’s advice for people with two tunics to share with those who have none is crucial for these times (see, Luke 3:11). If our neighbors are hurting, those in the Church with resources to help must give generously to ensure those most impacted by this crisis receive the assistance they need.
But at the end of the day, the answer to the question of whether it is worth risking the economy to save lives is a resounding, ‘Yes!’ Of course it is worth risking the economy to save human lives! Why? Well, if you really need it spelled out for you, it’s because each one of those lives, each one of those ‘dots,’ even the weakest, most vulnerable, and unproductive, matter.
They certainly matter to God. During Holy Week, we remember that they matter so much to God that he was willing to send Jesus to die on a cross for every one of them.
And if dots have that much value in the eyes of God, if they matter so much that he was willing to pay such a price for them, then certainly we can stay home and watch Netflix, all the while looking out for each other, in order to protect them. Can’t we?
Or are we no better than Harry Lime?
Under Christ’s Mercy,
Brent