Las Vegas Highways: Gambling on wheels

A group of angry citizens threatened soldiers with clubs. These soldiers, mere messengers representing a larger system (perhaps one that was flawed); were yelled at, pelted with ice and shells and later clubs, and taunted. The mob mentality ebbed and grew into an increasingly dire situation (for the soldiers who were greatly outnumbered), so much so that these soldiers fired into the mob.

Were they wrong?

This particular situation, often called the Boston Massacre, has been painted as the conception of the American Revolution. British rule of the colonies was indeed chafing. Taxation without representation was and remains unfair.

But why could it ever be right to kill one person in hopes of changing an entire system?

I worry about driving and the effects being a driver has upon a person's ability to trust strangers. When we walk, we put the safety of our lives into the hands of others. If we run into another person, we may fall thus scraping our knees or elbows, but no one is fatally injured from just bumping into another.

Drivers pose a much greater risk. Every year, 1.2 million people die as a result of car crashes. Some cannot be helped (by anyone but an actual psychic). But most are caused by negligence or emotion.

Las Vegas is home to many things, among them the worst drivers I've ever come across. They are so bad that me (a person from a town an hour away from Juarez, Mexico) and my apartment-mate (a person from a town an hour away from New York City) have named certain maneuvers "Las Vegas Driving". For instance, if one misses one's exit, it is quite within the law to just drive over the double white line, essentially making a 90 degree right hand turn off the freeway. Or passing on the right...even when the left lane is empty. A person is deemed "slow" when he or she drives 5 over the speed limit.

And yet, no car is driven by a robot. Or a cow, bear, monkey, toucan or kitten (although I would LOVE to see that, especially since the toucan would totally drive a Honda Accord). A fatal car crash always results in a human's death. When a person drives crazy, or "Las Vegas Style", they are operating with blatent disrespect of the safety of others.

When the colonists rebelled against unfair taxing, against an opressive monarchy who seemed to have no regard for the American colonies and their indelible right to pursue happiness; they felt that one sin covered another. It was okay to kill the messenger, as long as it sent its own message. If Matthew Kilroy were living in London, his life probably would not have been much richer than that of the rope makers in Boston. But since he was enforcing the King's ridiculous laws, then hurting him (or even deeming his right to live as being less important than the colonists' right to not pay ridiculous fees for a war they did not want) was not right.

How often do we get angry at another car? Is it okay to yell at a cashier because the company's raised prices on your favorite Whopper? Do we get angry at people when they bump into us on the sidewalk?

It seems we've created a hierarchy of needs. If I am being treated unjustly, it is okay for me to act out on any ear that is closest to my mouth. That ear is never anyone who can make change. And our system is such that change takes forever, and often never makes it through. Congress spends most days wishing the Secretary of bananas in Colombia a happy birthday or deciding whether or not there should be a national holiday for gophers, and the rest campaigning for another 2-6 years wishing happy birthdays or celebrating rodents.

Nowadays, only specific parts of Capitol Hill are open to everyday citizens. The way to a congressperson's ear is never open. How, then, are we (the people) able to make sure that we are controlling our government (and not vice versa) without taking ol' Tommy Jefferson's "watering the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants" literally?

It feels like the government is driving cars and the people have become pedestrians. We put all our trust in these drivers, that they may be able to get us to equality and happiness faster but every time they run us over. And adding new cogs and doohickeys to the car's system will just make it more difficult to fix it in the first place! Let's just start over. Let's get the politicians out of their metal death-mobiles and bring them to us. We are supposed to be their bosses! Democracy's beauty lies in the collective voice of the people not the collective voice of the money.

And now for something completely different:

If you have the chance (i.e. you have HBO or Netflix or the ability to go to Blockbuster), you HAVE to see HBO's John Adams. It's brilliant. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney are amazing.