The other day riding to work I thought about how travel is communication. When we travel we must need be in contact with other travelers. The blinker signals to others that we are turning one direction or another. There are myriad other signals we give and receive, many of them nearly subconscious and laced with primary meaning. We broadcast ourselves as we move through the world, and shouldn't we be careful what we say?
The traffic law tries to impose an order to this chaos, but what it really does is add a layer of unaccountability. People use or flout laws to avoid this essential communication act, which of course they can never really escape. We abide by laws because (hopefully) they are meaningful guideposts to ethical life, and as such they should contribute to our ability to express ourselves in public. However, the state of disassociation into which culture has fallen means that many do not understand that the basic communication of travel must be respected. In this case laws become a crutch, a fall back, beyond which people believe that their travel "utterances" do not matter.
They do matter though. Why do we want to live in a world in which we and others broadcast the worst possible sides of our natures? Why not a world in which we see and think about the other's meanings, and then act not based on a rule, but on a commonsense appreciation for the golden rule: Do to others what you'd have them do to you.
nice new layout, I like it.
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