Allemansrätten
Allemansrätten - It's a Swedish word that means "The everyman's right', referring to the freedom to roam, or go where you wish without restriction. I didn't realize that such a term existed in any language, but it's a feeling I've long had. There's a sort of primal frustration I've had all my life of seeing woodland, or a stream or any other natural place and not being allowed to go there because it's 'private property.' Here in the United States, that was a reality I unfortunately grew up with, and didn't know things were any different in other parts of the world. Apparently in the Nordic countries and much of Europe, this is a sentiment many people share.
After doing a little bit more reading on the subject, I'm starting to understand more about why this exists in Europe and not in the United States. Here in Connecticut, all public beachland requires an entry fee (or a parking fee of around $20 per car, which makes it prohibitively expensive for me to simply drive down and sit and look at the ocean for a day). All woodland is owned by someone, either by a private company or individual, or by the state. State parks are free, but it says something about a society when there are only certain woods you can go in.
Even though I grew up seeing them, I'm still surprised and depressed by the amount of 'no trespassing' and 'private property' signs I see nailed to trees on the edge of woodlands, or in wild fields. As if stepping on that land, which in all rights shouldn't belong to anyone, will cause harm to it. I can understand a farmer not wanting someone to trod on his crops, but I'm talking about a simple area of woods, or an overgrown field. It feels so wrong to look out at the world, and see a patchwork of 'places I can't go because they don't belong to me.'
And yet over the pond, there's not a patchwork, but an entire country of places I can go because the people have the right to walk on the ground of their country. What a concept! I never thought of it that way but it makes such beautiful sense. I am a citizen of the United States. Why can't I walk into a forest without first making sure it's not someone's property? Part if it has to do with the immense litigious spirit of the people here. If I were to trip over a rock or a log, I could sue the property owner if he didn't have a 'no trespassing sign'. I never would, because I have common sense and decency and take responsibility for my own actions. Me tripping on a piece of natural land is not negligence on the part of the property owner in any way...yet so many people think it is, so everyone is afraid of people like me just taking a stroll in the world I live in.
People don't quite understand why I feel trapped. I'm not in a cage, so why do I feel like I'm imprisoned? It's because I have no access to the world. When I say 'access to the world', I don't mean just little patches of it. I don't want to have to drive miles just to walk in an expanse of state park. It's not even the distance - there are public places I can walk to, but why should I have to go out of my way to partake in the 'designated walking area' that I'm allowed to be in? I can't imagine how wonderful it must be to walk out your front door, and see an expanse of 'every man's land', not just fences and signs telling you to keep out.
After doing a little bit more reading on the subject, I'm starting to understand more about why this exists in Europe and not in the United States. Here in Connecticut, all public beachland requires an entry fee (or a parking fee of around $20 per car, which makes it prohibitively expensive for me to simply drive down and sit and look at the ocean for a day). All woodland is owned by someone, either by a private company or individual, or by the state. State parks are free, but it says something about a society when there are only certain woods you can go in.
Even though I grew up seeing them, I'm still surprised and depressed by the amount of 'no trespassing' and 'private property' signs I see nailed to trees on the edge of woodlands, or in wild fields. As if stepping on that land, which in all rights shouldn't belong to anyone, will cause harm to it. I can understand a farmer not wanting someone to trod on his crops, but I'm talking about a simple area of woods, or an overgrown field. It feels so wrong to look out at the world, and see a patchwork of 'places I can't go because they don't belong to me.'
And yet over the pond, there's not a patchwork, but an entire country of places I can go because the people have the right to walk on the ground of their country. What a concept! I never thought of it that way but it makes such beautiful sense. I am a citizen of the United States. Why can't I walk into a forest without first making sure it's not someone's property? Part if it has to do with the immense litigious spirit of the people here. If I were to trip over a rock or a log, I could sue the property owner if he didn't have a 'no trespassing sign'. I never would, because I have common sense and decency and take responsibility for my own actions. Me tripping on a piece of natural land is not negligence on the part of the property owner in any way...yet so many people think it is, so everyone is afraid of people like me just taking a stroll in the world I live in.
People don't quite understand why I feel trapped. I'm not in a cage, so why do I feel like I'm imprisoned? It's because I have no access to the world. When I say 'access to the world', I don't mean just little patches of it. I don't want to have to drive miles just to walk in an expanse of state park. It's not even the distance - there are public places I can walk to, but why should I have to go out of my way to partake in the 'designated walking area' that I'm allowed to be in? I can't imagine how wonderful it must be to walk out your front door, and see an expanse of 'every man's land', not just fences and signs telling you to keep out.