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May 2, 2003

How can you tell if you live in a repressive society" Don’t know" Well, take this easy quiz and find out:

1. Are there many, many police on your streets and in your neighborhood"
2. Do you often see them arresting someone or giving a ticket"
3. Are a high percentage of your citizens behind bars" (Like, say, two million or so.)
4. Are even more of your citizens currently adjudicated"
5. Does your society have a large underclass that remains impoverished in spite of frequent social reforms"
6. Are a large percentage of your children living in poverty"
7. Is there always an enemy that threatens your country’s safety and security"
8. Does your country have a large and powerful military that is perpetually at war"
9. In order to get elected to office do you have to compromise your ideals and sell your soul to the highest bidder"
10. Are you constantly bombarded with propaganda that yours is the best and freest country in the world"

Answers:

• If you answered yes to one or two questions then you probably live in a repressive country.
  
  
• If you answered yes to three or four questions it is time for marching in the streets.
  
  
• If you answered yes to five or six question it is time for the Revolution.
  
  
• If you answered yes to seven or more question, Welcome to America.

You can often sum up a situation by remembering the old saw, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.” The question is, what does the duck look like that we want our duck to look like"

A brief history behind the thinking that led to the Repression Quiz

Your Peaceseed has been a sidelines liberal most of his adult life. Railing and ranting at injustice. Cursing the corporate media biases. Decrying racism. Occasionally marched in protests. I contributed to peace and justice causes. But I also believed, as most Americans do, that I lived in the best, freest country in the world. And then my eyes were opened.

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to spend a month driving through Spain, France and Germany. I had no expectation as to the cultures, other than stereotypes I’d heard. You know the ones. The French are rude. Germans are regimented, etc. The trip was interesting from a cultural and artistic standpoint. Beautiful landscapes, art and architecture. Just what I’d hoped. I didn’t really experience any of the stereotypical behavior I’d heard about though. I liked the French, German and Spanish people I met. They were just like Americans. Wanting a better world for their kids. Worrying about wars, pollution, and the other ills of the world.

One thing did stand out though. This had to do with the police. Or should I say the role of the police on the roads of the countries I visited. And it was striking. First, there were very few police on the roads. I traveled close to 1,000 mile on the major highways and back roads and during that time the only police - civilian interactions I saw were of police providing help to citizens. I saw no one being ticketed - ever. I saw police helping a stranded motorist. I saw police giving directions. I saw police doing crowd control.

How could people travel the autobahns and other high speed thoroughfares with very few police and not have a death rate much higher than in the US" The death rate in Germany is not higher than in the US. Death rates are lower still in France and Spain. So, I asked friends in Germany why their death rates were no higher than ours. The answer surprised me. Germans and other Western Europeans practice self-regulation. Only people who drive fast, are in the fast lane. Drivers pay close attention to their rear-view mirrors. If someone approaches you from behind, you immediately more over.

In America, a high percentage of people drive at whatever speed they want, in whatever lane they choose. If the law says move right when approached from behind, many motorists just ignore the law if they are going the speed limit. Other Americans think they are race car drivers and use all the lanes, switching across lanes at a whim or for the slightest advantage. A bunch of ego driven cowboys. Respecting no rules and always certain of their rights. Free. Free. Free.

And police everywhere. Everywhere. Giving tickets. Radar guns. Shotguns. Cars and equipment that look more than a little military. Arresting speeders. Arresting suspects. Arresting people because they have the same skin color as someone they are looking for.

In contrast, Europeans go about their business without the need for intense policing, because they have learned to police themselves, to show restraint, to be considerate of others.

I came to see that freedom can have many faces. Freedom can be arrogant. Freedom can be aggressive. Freedom can disrespect others. Or freedom can value others. Freedom may include helping your neighbor. Or freedom can be regulating your own behavior so you can share the same "commons" without need for a Gestapo. Freedom is being able to choose your life’s course without interference from others, but freedom is also willingly showing restraints so all of us can live in harmony. Freedom without respect for others leads to tyranny.

Welcome to America.

Johnny Peaceseed

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