COVER -> American Dreams
You don't spit into the wind,
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger,
And you don't mess around with Slim,
Da, do, da, do..." --- Jim Croceule or break the law and then expect some high level of civility and/or concern for their bodily well-being when the "authorities" apprehend them. I'm not talking about criminals who clearly understand the consequences of their actions, like bank robbers or serial killers. I'm talking about the small minority (thankfully) in almost every society who suffer under the misconception that "public places" are magical zones where you can "do as you wish, go where you wish" and that arguments to the "authorities" that, "I am a private citizen in a public place" should hold great sway.
- NO DOGS ALLOWED,
- CELL PHONE USE PROHIBITED,
- TICKET HOLDER ONLY IN PAVILION AREA,
- ALL VEHICLES MUST STOP AT RANGER'S BOOTH BEFORE ENTERING THE PARK,
- AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
- these "orders" seem to be the proverbial "gauntlet of challenge" for these folks.
I got onto this particular kick, after reading a piece written by G.Tod Slone. Mr. Slone, as some longtime readers of G21 may recall, used to submit articles to G21 on various subjects; he is also the editor of a set of personal web pages he entitles "The American Dissident."
In the piece in point, Basic, Everyday Rights, Mr. Slone tells of how he arrived at Walden Pond State Park (yes, the same pond made famous by Henry David Thoreau,) and --- being the holder of a season pass for park admittance --- felt there was no reason he should have to wait in line; therefore, driving his vehicle around another vehicle and the park attendant, he proceeded on his way, undeterred. After enjoying the public amenities for an hour or more, Mr.Slone then took it upon himself to return to the park attendant, and confront him with verbal abuse, including a liberal application of the "F" word (English slang for sex), just because this young man had called out, "SIR!, SIR!", while he, Slone, had been "crashing the gate".
For his trouble, Mr. Slone ultimately got arrested for [what he calls] "Civil Disobedience", spent a day in jail and had his vehicle impounded, costing him $95 and several trips to court.
Through a series of correspondence with Mr.Slone, it became clear he will accept no culpability in the events that took place; challenged by my defense of the park rules and the attendants, it was conveyed in no uncertain terms by Mr. Slone that Mr.Slone feels that I:
- (a) sympathize with Neo-Nazis;
- (b) am a pedophile or homosexual;
- (c) am a brainwashed hyper-patriot; and
- (d) have never been arrested and/or spent a night in jail.
I wasn't there when Mr.Slone was arrested, so maybe his treatment by the authorities was as egregious as he portrayed it; however, he was wrong on all points in his assessment of me - so I have to wonder.
There were two fairly recent events where I WAS a witness and, frankly, I couldn't fault the authorities at all for their handling of the perpetrators of these "incidents".
The first incident was fairly innocuous.
I was attending a performance at a public outdoor auditorium where the covered pavilion seating was a few dollars more than the "lawn" seating. Since I didn't feel like toting a blanket, etc. I had shelled out the few dollars for the "first-class" seating. As the main act came on stage, a large young man tried "crashing" past the security people to gain admittance to the pavilion area - without paying.
He was promptly wrestled to the ground and, with his head mere inches from my feet, he looked up at me and screamed," They're f--king hurting me, man!"
What else could I say but, "Stop f--king struggling, man!"?
I mean, seriously, I PAID for my ticket; did he think I was going to jump in and help him fight off the security personnel? Pu-leeez!
A more recent event took place while I was attending some classes at my local community college. Our break time was about over, and my fellow students hurried off to class, away from the small snack and vending area that was adjacent to a stairwell --- a stairwell that led down to the main computer server room of the campus. An area full of doorways clearly marked "Authorized Personnel Only".
Suddenly, two campus police burst through the door and quickly crossed the room to the stairwell. Within seconds of their descent down the stairs I heard angry voices.
Someone was yelling,"Get your f--king hands off me, this is a public school. I'm a private citizen...I can go where I want!"
The two officers came up the stairs, flanking a young man with a wild-eyed look and a backpack.
Reaching the top stair, the young man made a "break for it", but one of the officers, a heavy build chap that resembled heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, caught his arm. For 30-40 seconds a wild brawl ensued. ( Later I learned that the young man's backpack contained six hard drives he had jerked out of servers that maintain various student records, projects, assignments and grades.)
Unfortunately for our first officer, his partner froze. Absolutely motionless.
Meanwhile, "the fighter" and the "private citizen" went crashing into the vending machines and took turns slamming each other against the brick walls of this "commons" area.The officer was using some fairly sophisticated techniques for trying to restrain this suspect without brutalizing him.
At some point the young man was able to grab the safety strap that goes over the officer's pistol and brought the pistol partway out.
I had an immediate sense of my mortality --- and I too was motionless.
Through a herculean effort, the officer was actually able to wrestle the gun back, and wrenched the young man toward the ground.
At this point I decided things had gone far enough and I jumped on the suspect's legs, feeling it was my civic duty to assist the officer with a suspect with such obviously violent propensities.
He cried out,"You're f--king hurting me!"
While the officer screamed at his partner to put on the cuffs, I could do nothing less than scream back at the young,"private citizen" , "Stop f--king struggling!"
Civil Disobedience:" The refusal to obey a law for the purpose of demonstrating its unfairness or social undesirability".
I'll concede that Mr. Slone was improperly charged with"Civil Disobedience", as it doesn't appear that Mr.Slone's intent or purpose was to demonstrate any "unfairness or social undesirability" to a rule or law at work --- he merely wanted to gain admission to a state maintained park as quickly as possible,"Slone-style".
However, he then decided to "run the gauntlet" again, and contest the issue with the park attendant. An earlier article of his described how children at the same park look at him suspiciously; apparently, he understands the main reason the "park attendants" are supposed to glance into each vehicle: public safety.
After extended correspondence (ok, it was a flame war) with Mr. Slone, I came to the conclusion that what he really was guilty of was a basic lack of appreciation for "Natural Law"; a concept that is explained in legal dictionaries, but rarely in actual laws.
"Knowledge of natural laws may be attained merely by the light of reason, from the fact of their essential agreement with the constitution of human nature." 11 Ark. 519,527. Human nature. Common sense.
"Natural Law" is the force that keeps us from disturbing dogs when they are eating.
"Natural Law" should have propelled Mr.Slone's vehicle out of the park and past the ranger's booth, without him stopping to "screw" with the guard --- IMHO.
It was downright "unnatural" what he did.
Considering the range of individuals law enforcement personnel have to deal with, and Mr.Slone's self-proclaimed love of argument , I thought Slone was treated with a "natural" degree of civility. In keeping with the unwritten laws of "Human Nature", he was granted access to the same jailhouse amenities as any other law breaker in the Land of Opportunity.