Have you ever heard of object permanence? Most people know this concept in connection with peekaboo, a game usually played between friendly adults and inquisitive toddlers, not between state legislatures and their residents.
Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who should come back from the dead for a haunted Florida weekend if you want a new case study, has devised a theory about knowing the presence of the unseen: this is how a baby knows its mother is lurking behind its hand and not “out to buy cigarettes”.
By age 2, most humans understand that if, say, noodles roll off a tray, they’ll stay on the floor. Florida leaders have boldly refuted this theory, repeatedly asking, “What noodles?”
For years, Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawmakers have ripped rogue fingers over complex issues like sexual orientation, gender, literature, the environment, race, arts, culture and even the physical dangers of Florida’s high temperatures, reducing these layered topics to canceled cartoons in the business history of state government.
UPDATE: Textbook authors tell the Orlando Sentinel that the DeSantis administration has ordered some references to climate change removed from the science. According to the book, the state Department of Education made no attempt to deny it. This came on the heels of a new law that removed many of the “climate” references from the statute.
But that’s not all, Mr. Piaget! Would you like a rooming house? Great. Because in the midst of ignoring scientific consensus during an ominous hurricane season, DeSantis still went hard. He imposed unprecedented peekaboo handicaps on arts and cultural organizations, citing sexual content at festivals as the reason hundreds of museums, symphonies and theaters must do without subsidies. Meanwhile, girls in St. Petersburg are offering $5 to their ballet teacher.
Trust me, I love denial. There is a time and a place for denial. Like when someone knocks on your door at 2pm dressed like a Brothers Grimm monster. The person knocking is either trying to serial kill me or sell me solar panels. Or they’re a serial killer disguised as a solar panel salesman. In any scenario, you have no choice but to slide to the floor and pretend the knock never happened.
But those who choose to be civil servants should be braver people, people who are willing to engage and learn, people who are brave enough to open the door without a proper bra. They should have no problem saying, “I acknowledge the benefits of solar panels. I’ll take the brochure.” Civil servants should not be people who roll around on the rug like a dropped noodle.
Look, I know it’s exhausting to keep talking about this. I know people will write you emails with ALL CAPS subject lines, clinging to a worldview that’s already been shaken. I know the Supreme Court has declared that experts are no longer experts. So what’s the point?
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But as I frantically reach for my sweatpants in my safe haven, I have to believe there’s a chance for common sense to peek through the dirt. Perhaps more of us can agree that the erasure of nuance is becoming weird, that politicians based on denial may not even be in step with their traditional supporters. Recent polls have found that Florida Republicans are concerned about energy costs and reliance on natural gas, and believe in the effects of climate change.
Get it? You don’t have to be a woke caricature to argue that funding an orchestra is a good thing or that drowning in your own home is a bad thing. We can accommodate large groups of people. And when it comes time to make a choice, we can look at the ballot and ask which local leaders opened the door to the messy, beautiful, salvageable real world when it mattered, and which ones hid behind pale palms.
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