There is no mistake so great as that of being always right.
Last night I was chatting with a friend about cross walks. She was pointing out that obeying cross walks is a part of the social contract. We can tell cars not to run red lights because we wait for the walk signal.
However, I feel it is more okay to cross against the light, whereas it would be quite hard for me to run a red light (I would wait a fair long while before deciding a light was broken if it never changed.) I thought about this for a little while and tried to figure out my reason. Part of it is that I'm much much more likely to get a ticket and get hit with fines and higher insurance rates if I run a red light. However, that's because society views it as a much worse ill to run a red light than a Don't Walk sign.
I think the reason is one of power. As a driver in a car, you have a lot of power. It's quite scary how much potential power you have that you could accidentally misuse. Because the driver is in the position of power here, it's the pedestrian that needs protection. I think that this is both why my internal ruleset suggests it's worse to run a red light and also why it's more highly regulated by lawmakers and enforcers.
I suppose the result is that I don't feel guilty about jaywalking, as long as I do it very carefully and don't put myself or others at risk.
However, I feel it is more okay to cross against the light, whereas it would be quite hard for me to run a red light (I would wait a fair long while before deciding a light was broken if it never changed.) I thought about this for a little while and tried to figure out my reason. Part of it is that I'm much much more likely to get a ticket and get hit with fines and higher insurance rates if I run a red light. However, that's because society views it as a much worse ill to run a red light than a Don't Walk sign.
I think the reason is one of power. As a driver in a car, you have a lot of power. It's quite scary how much potential power you have that you could accidentally misuse. Because the driver is in the position of power here, it's the pedestrian that needs protection. I think that this is both why my internal ruleset suggests it's worse to run a red light and also why it's more highly regulated by lawmakers and enforcers.
I suppose the result is that I don't feel guilty about jaywalking, as long as I do it very carefully and don't put myself or others at risk.