Spending some time (~2wks) in Portland, Oregon. I forgot how
much of a "nanny state" this is compared to Arizona, where I
live. Now, that's a term that is in regular use, so some may
understand something other than what I mean by it. What I do
mean is that they seem to have an "it's illegal unless we
say it isn't" attitude here. Like u-turns... you can't make
one here unless there is a sign telling you that you can.
In AZ it's the opposite: unless a sign specifically states
that you can't, a u-turn is legal anywhere. The whole nanny
concept reminds me of how one might treat a small child:
make them ask permission for anything they might want to do.
I'm more a fan of the "it's legal unless everyone agrees
that it shouldn't be." That idea is coupled with the idea
that people are capable of figuring out what is "just plain
stupid" on their own. It's a matter of trusting one another
instead of thinking "people around me simply aren't capable
of making good decisions." Let people manage themselves, and
trust them to do it. I suppose in AZ we also punish them
pretty harshly when they prove repeatedly that they can't
manage themselves: we still have chain-gangs and the death
penalty. Pretty harsh, and I will say that Arizona still
feels like "the wild west" in a lot of ways. But that seems
to be what the people want down there. At least it's
democratic.
Having lived in Portland for ~20 years (89-2008), and in
Arizona from birth-89, and from '08-present, I have found
that there are more things that I like about AZ. I love the
pacific northwest, but in the balance of it all, AZ still
wins for me, for now. The world is so nuts all over, maybe
the wild west will end up being the place that never was
tamed, rather than going from wild to tame and back to
wild again like so many places seem to be heading.
