The thing is, we are a society that reacts to problems, instead of thinking ahead and proactively changing our ‘way of life’ to promote the greater good over the long run.

We impliment a great new idea, that causes 5 problems, so we come up with fixes for all 5 problems, which, unfortuneatly, causes 25 more problems…

Repeat cycle until society collapses.

Now many people have never even met their next-door neighbors, let alone the folks down the block, so they care no more about them than they do about the folks being murdered in Africa or Iraq or Tijuana — they’re just faceless numbers in the population charts.

And, yep, a lot of the difference is cars. Go from your kitchen into the attached garage, push the magic button and drive away, never even really see anyone, let alone meet them.

As for the Made in America weapons — yep, many of them are. Some still are being made in Russia and China, apparently, so I guess we and the Communists are continuing our battle by providing arms to people who will use them, or something of that sort.

Any suggestions?

When we used to live in small groups, people policed each others behavior in a way that made the community a MUCH better place to live. The car has been the demon that destroyed our sense of community. Cars allow us to venture forth into places where you are anonymous and have little/no social pressure to do the right thing, or be a good person. That is the rationale behind my suggestion for citizen based law enforcement. A HUGE amount of the problems we face are caused by the anonymity enabled by the sick and destructive car culture.

I can’t help but wonder how people in those countries would react if they read our sites and found out that we were worried about butts and bottles.

Happy New Year!

There will always be low-life people around to foul the nest we all live in. Perhaps a “deposit” on cigarette butts might be the answer. However, we can’t even get a deposit law on cans and bottles out of the legislature.

The thing that really chaps my behind is people who throw used baby diaper everywhere but a trash can. DISGUSTING!!!! Cigarette butts don’t hold a candle to this act. These people are PIGS.

People open their car door and set their drained super-size cups out on the pavement. They also regularly open the door and dump the contents of their ashtray onto the pavement. (I’ve been tempted, when I see it, to throw it back into their car and say, “Here… you dropped something.” Would that be illegal?)

Yeah, the taxpayer-supplied trash can is maybe 25 feet away, and you’d have to actually get out of your car and walk over to it, so I understand why many citizens don’t make that difficult choice. (/sarcasm)

And they are best uttered to the Dispatcher upon requesting an officer, should the responding officer – as they are sometimes wont to do – not be in the mood and will [A] Interrogate YOU as to whether you are “…going to actually take the days off from work to follow through with this…”, attempting to discourage you, or [B] Plead there is nothing he/she can do (technically true); but will not mention your power Citizen’s Arrest.

These phenomenon are especially present near the end of an Officer’s shift.

There’s some CYA involved, and I would direct the reader’s attention to:

http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=190060004.K

and

http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=180070001.K

Happy New Year!

Every one of my neighbors is a violator of some sort, as well as some of my family members. The thing is, most folks won’t risk starting a war over anything less than a huge personal insult, or grievous trespass.

If you see someone do something illegal, you report their license plate and description to the police. If the police receive three different reports about the same type of behavior, they recieve a ticket for the offense.

It would have to be a little more complex, but I think this idea might make people more considerate. The cronic violators just keep an eye peeled for the cops and do pretty much as they please when none are around.

EDITOR NOTE–Actually Tom, all it takes is a single complaint. You have to identify the person–not just a license plate–and step forth and sign a complaint. With the help and involvement of the coppers, any citizen can stand up for what’s right with little risk of personal harm.