As rhetoric heats up at the national level, a recipe for turmoil reflects the warnings and malevolence of three witches in William Shakespeare’s literary classic, Macbeth. Foretelling misfortune and doom, their song “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” casts a spell of deception and misfortune. As the witches gather ingredients of their poisonous brew, they repeatedly chant the refrain: “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.”
Although a concoction of fillet of fenny snake, eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog is fictional fantasy, it references very real and present dangers that not only posed problems in the 1600s, but have persisted to contemporary life. Beginning with a pinch of actual or perceived grievances, a pot of turmoil is stirred with anger, jealousy, fear and resentment to produce a toxic emotional overload that, as in Macbeth’s situation, leads to tragedy.
On a national and international level, we are witness to a populist uprising that has taken simmering political inequities to a boil. Healthy doses of malevolent ingredients have been injected into a brew that threatens the structure and foundation of our society. Reason and civil dialogue give way to demands, threats and ultimatums that define hard lines of defense without room for discussion or compromise.
While armchair pundits of all types can speculate on the ramifications of national strategies and tactics, at the local level, some of the same factors are at work too. At the July 16 Fremont City Council meeting, hundreds of demonstrators and public speakers attended to oppose locating a proposed Navigation Center for homeless individuals on a vacant parcel of land adjacent to Regan’s Nursery near the intersection of Fremont Boulevard and Decoto Road. One of two locations selected as a possible site, neighbors expressed a familiar refrain heard in prior protests from Niles District neighbors: good idea, wrong location.
While forceful and peaceful protest is a staple of a free society, outrage and emotional outbursts directed toward a navigation center for homeless individuals in Fremont has been sprinkled with vitriolic fervor that implies immediate danger and revulsion of these people whatever their circumstance. It appears that only a location far from any residential development is satisfactory to many residents. Of the two locations selected for consideration by the city council, it may be that the parking lot next to City Hall is preferable since the protests, at this time, have been limited to a few developers who fear a negative impact on property values. Residential development in the downtown area is currently nascent, not yet consolidated, so wholesale protest is not expected.
Lessons have emerged from Fremont’s Navigation Center debacle:
- Assess a project with transparent and open community outreach before any tentative agreements are initiated.
- Thoroughly inform the community of what is proposed along with proven data and experience to support the proposal and its location to allay fears.
- If a proposal is a prototype, address concerns and unknown factors prior to negotiations. New and controversial enterprises are best demonstrated in less impacted locations before introducing them to more debatable sites.
- Decisions should be based on community dialogue and rational expectations; funding should be an essential, but not the only primary deciding factor.
Shakespeare fashioned Macbeth as a parable, warning of temptation that transcends consequences. His witches created a “charm of powerful trouble” that resulted in a “hell-broth” for the Scottish king and Lady Macbeth. The result was disastrous for both of them; a deceitful Lady Macbeth was doomed to roam castle corridors trying desperately to wash away a psychological “damn’d spot” of murderous betrayal.
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.