One
of the main struggles of any civilization is reconciling liberty and order.
Many societies have neither while others weigh in too heavily on the side of
order. If a culture has an excess of personal freedoms it often comes at the
expense of the rule of law. In a lawless society those freedoms are only for a
select few, the powerful and wealthy in most occasions. If a country’s charter
places an exaggerated price on order it devalues personal liberty. This denial
of personal freedoms almost always means a harsh infringement on an
individual’s right to expression, assembly, and the right to criticize
authority. The best societies agonize over this struggle; the worst cultures
can’t be bothered with liberty.
The
Spanish approach to this dilemma is probably quite a bit different depending on
the area of the country. There are many aspects of this balance between ideals
here in Valencia that I recognize from having lived in Greece many years ago.
It may be a pan-Mediterranean approach to the concept. After living in Greece
for three years, it was a bit odd to return to the United States and once again
have to follow the rules a little more closely. Perhaps a story is in order.
I
rented an old house in Greece that I had to fix up quite a bit for it to be
habitable in any way. I spent several days cleaning up the place and afterwards
I had quite a large pile of trash to haul away. The thing was, I didn’t know
where to haul it. Instead, after having a few beers with one of my best friends
at the time, we decided to burn it all right there in the back yard. Who would
complain about this in Greece? We had seen lots of neighbors doing similar
things. As the flames rose on our junk bonfire, we realized that what we failed
to consider in this operation was the fact that there was a police station
right across the street from the house. Sure enough, a cop walked the twenty
steps from the station house to the gate of my yard, gave a greeting by way of
a grunt or two, and then retreated back into the station. We thought that he
must be going for his citation book but instead he returned a few minutes later
carrying a broken chair. He asked if he could add it to our raging fire.
Had
we done something like this in an American city I’m sure we would have been
Rodney King-ed and sentenced for the rest of our youth (and deservedly so, I
would add). We have laws to protect us from hooligans who would build a bonfire
in a residential neighborhood across from a police precinct. We also have laws
for a lot of little things that will annoy the hell out of you if you have ever
lived somewhere not quite as orderly. I mean, what do you mean I can’t drink a
beer at the beach? What sort of puritanical bore came up with such a law?
We
truly are hysterical on the subject of alcohol in America. If there is one area
where we need to ease up a bit on the yokes of order it is our attitude about
booze. How could anyone come up with the stupid notion that an 18 year old can
enter into a contract that is binding for life, or enter the military yet
cannot drink a glass of wine for another three years? All we have done is
create a very unhealthy relationship between booze and adult society. Either an
18 year old is an adult or she isn’t, and guess what happens when you treat
people like adults? They act like adults. Enough said on that topic.
On
the other hand, there are many areas of Spanish society where I would love to
see a little firmer hand played by the authorities, namely with regards to
motorized vehicles. The Spanish love of anarchy plays itself out in a very
deadly fashion on the roads and highways here. Motor scooters seem to be the
least bothered by the rules of the road. This is a problem that is easily
remedied with a length of piano wire stretched neck-high across a few strategic
intersections. If that seems a bit drastic then how about writing a few traffic
tickets?
I
got a severe chewing-out by a policeman the other day for riding my bike on the
sidewalk as I was approaching the entrance to Turia Park which is one long bike
trail. I told the cop he should walk a half a block to an intersection at which
I take my life in my hands every time I am forced to cross it. At every change
of the light at least three cars speed through the cross walk at great peril to
anyone who happens to be crossing. He actually told me that if I didn’t like it
I should take the bus. This is in a city that has spent a fortune on bike paths
yet only 1.6% of the residents use a bicycle to effect daily transportation. I
have been hassled on several occasions—both in Seattle and Valencia—on my bike
when I wasn’t being an asshole at all, I swear.
There
are other examples of an absence of the rule of law in Spain that Americans
might find difficult to tolerate. It is almost impossible to arrest someone for
petty crimes here. Nonviolent theft seems rather rampant because if it is less
than 400€ it isn’t considered a punishable offense, at least you won’t receive
jail time. I have never been robbed but I seem to be among the small minority
who are able to claim this status. On the other hand, we criminalize things
like loitering in America—a concept Spanish people are not capable of grasping.
“Getting arrested for hanging out? What do you mean?” I think a good compromise
would be the northern European countries, like Holland, for example. Drugs laws
are much more lax which means fewer people in prison. Jailing someone for
anything less than a violent crime seems a bit harsh to me. How about we punish
drug offenders by taking away their driving privileges? That seems about the
correct response. Or how about we garnish their wages? No job? We give them a
job and then we garnish their wages. I think someone would think twice
about committing a crime if they had to work at a crappy job for reduced pay as
punishment.
Once
again, I think it is in our best interests to look deeper into other societies
to see how they have dealt with some of the problems that plague modern day
America. Instead we seem to fall back on the moronic reflex of declaring ours
the greatest country on earth and allowing our societal ills to fester. The
worst option is what is often proposed by conservatives. They want us to return
to failed policies of the past or continue with ideas that have not worked for
decades. Of course, liberals are also guilty of taking this tack. I mean, how
much longer can we continue in our War on Drugs? I suppose forever. Forever is
a long time to do the wrong thing.
