America scares the shit out of me.
As I travel outside the United States, I am increasingly aware that my beloved country is reeling off the tracks. Economic security is a luxury only the wealthiest can afford, and physical safety can no longer be taken for granted.
When I drive across the aptly-named Peace bridge from Buffalo, New York, into Ontario, Canada, a perceived weight is lifted from my shoulders. Suddenly, I don’t have to be on security alert, with my head on a constant swivel, in a state of hyper readiness to defend my wife or myself from assault, armed robbery or the latest deranged psycho with a high-capacity, large caliber weapon.
It is not just the reasonable gun control laws in Canada that make it a generally safe country. It is more than this. Canada still recognizes and enforces a social contract. There is a standard of acceptable public behavior that is assumed by most people when dealing with others. And, if you break the social contract through disagreeable or obnoxious actions, you will be taken to task. On the spot. Canadians are notably polite and tolerant, but remember, this is a nation that will drop the gloves and square off on sharp ice skates. Disagreeable behavior is challenged at every level of Canadian society, from the Prime Minister to the local fruit stand proprietor. Act like a fool, drive like an idiot, litter the streets, and you may be dressed down by a grandmother with a cane, or a hipster on a fixie bike. And no one gets shot in the process. More than likely, the person offering the unsolicited advice about your personal deportment would, if you care to discuss it further, buy you a double-double coffee at Tim Horton’s.
Civility takes a slightly different form in Australia. One of the things I immediately noticed about Sydney was the lack of police officers on the streets of such a huge city. Instead, the city is under Big Brother’s constant surveillance. And, when you do see a cop, they are the approachable, “Officer Friendly” variety, not the paramilitary storm troopers we’ve come to know in America. The social contract, however, takes a slightly different form.
While in Australia, I watched a TV news story about a professional rugby player who was being sued by a guy that he allegedly injured in a bar fight. The injured man was intoxicated, and in trying to prove his manliness, decided to physically challenge the biggest dude in the pub. It didn’t turn out well for the challenger, and his trip home included a detour to the local emergency room where he received sixteen stitches to close the gash over his eye. The local constable refused to arrest the rugby player, and eventually the case made its way to the civil courts. After hearing the plaintiff’s testimony, the judge threw out the case with this comment: “Sometimes guys like you just need a punch in the face!”
The cameras in Sydney work well. Two weeks after my return to the States, I received a hundred-eighty dollar traffic ticket for speeding through a school zone. I was eight kilometers over the limit in a rental car. That’s about five miles per hour. Big Brother doesn’t mess around.
In Canada and Australia, there is a sense of community and inclusive prosperity. The average person doesn’t reek of the desperation so prevalent in America today. Both countries have a comfortable middle class, state sponsored universal health care, provide a university education with reasonable tuitions, and are ethnically diverse. I felt I could walk the streets, use public transport, ride my bicycle or just sit in a park without being hassled or threatened. Never once did I feel the need to have the Ruger semi-auto pistol that I carry in the U.S.
Last Friday evening I was in Chicago with my wife for a presentation. There were thirty murders on the mean streets of America’s windy city that night. I went slightly out of my way and drove home to Florida through Toronto.
