Re: FW: 120mph??? Yes.

[Phil and Judy Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

>Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 17:30:58 -0600 (CST)
>From: "Mark L. Chang" <mchang@ece.nwu.edu>
>Subject: Re: FW: 120mph???  Yes.
>
>
>> I couldn't believe it the first time I was there and I was standing at an
>> intersection with about 15 other people.  There wasn't a car in sight, and
>> the street was narrow, but nobody would cross.  If you *do* cross, prepare
>> to have people stare at you like you have three heads.
>
>Happens all the time "over there".  What's worse is when you've lived
>there for any length of time, it starts to make sense to wait.  Now,
>people stare at me in the US because I just stand there and wait for the
>"Walk" sign to light up.
>
>Strange...


Yeh, I have had mixed emotions about these experiences. When I was in
Germany-- standing at a street corner-- I would reflexively think: "hah,
what a bunch of mindless robots!" But once I'm back home, even though
America's relative anarchy seems refreshing at first, it's too often just
part of a mindless attitude "This is a "free" country, I can do whatever
the hell I want!"

The lesser of two evils? Perhaps. But I think Dan Sinclair's post cogently
illustrated how we can fail (conveniently?) to grasp the societal
consequences of supposedly "private" decisions or actions. BTW, I'll not
take the time to describe how, 39 years ago, I saw another vehicle collide
with my car almost certainly owing to the absence of a seatbelt. Nobody had
them, since belts were a novelty then, but a year later, I ordered a set
(along with padded dash) as the only option on my first new car.

Anyway, in the spirit of "slippery-slope" reality check: Yes, the price of
liberty _is_ eternal vigilance, but communist and fascist states weren't
produced by means of a series of seatbelt and motorcycle helmet laws--or,
IMHO anything vaguely similar. Our aversion to creeping totalitarianism
should be redirected against actions of government that run clearly counter
to due process--such as federal and recent local laws that allow seizure
and disposal of privately-owned vehicles merely upon the *allegation* of a
criminal act (even possibly non-vehicular in nature).

See, there's something for everyone.

Phil


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