Recently Freek wrote in response to my blog about littering:
This is another example of an overinstitutionalised world. I think that many of the problems we have in today’s society stem from the institutionalisation of tasks that used to be performed by families, friends and the neighboorhoud. If we would just do a little bit more ourselves and not expect the government (WHO is the government anyway??) to do it, we would have less problems and have to pay less taxes and hence enjoy more freedom.
I have been thinking about this remark about personal responsibility a lot. It reminds me of this quote made by Thatcher in 1987 in Womens Own magazine:
“I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand “I have a problem, it is the Government’s job to cope with it! …and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations…”
As I said in my previous comment, I agree with this to the extent that we are responsible for our own actions, our neighbourhood our city etc. It is not ‘the government’ who litter the streets, it is us. But I have problems with finding a solution without the involvement of a government. Because how do we clean it up?
The former mayor of London started a anti-litter campaign ‘a cleaner london is up to you’ in 2003 with this slogan: when I leave things on the ground will a litter fairy come around? See this link for an example campaign poster.
I am not sure if the campaign worked. But I know that fairy is me. I clean up when other people leave the mess. The reason why I look to the government is because my fellow citizens do not take the responsibility.
I want to know how we, as individuals, can arrange simple things ourselves, like preventing littering, in giant and anonymous cities like London? I can do my duty and clean my doorsteps, which I do, but how do I as an individual persuade my neighbours and the unknown tourists to stop littering and clean up? To manage that would be a fulltime task.
Isn’t that the reason why we ‘outsourced’ this responsibility to the local government by paying tax? Besides that I would be perfectly happy if there would be a campaign to make people aware that they should not drop their litter on the streets and I would also be happy if there was more law enforcement to accompany that campaign. Not so liberal, but I think for now that will work the best.
I would be really happy if parents would teach their children again that they share the streets with others and that they should respect the public spaces by keeping them clean.
So what I want to know from you is; do you agree with the complexity of an answer to simple issues like this? How would you solve the problem of littering without the involvement of the government? Let me know.
Beatpolitics is created by me, Beatrijs Overdijkink. I am a writer, originally from Amsterdam, lived in London for a while and just moved to Prague. I write about political subjects big and small. Feel free to comment on anything I say. I love a good debate!
Willem | 05-Mar-09 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
I feel that in essence it is our responsibility. First: take care of your own stuff and do a little extra to keep your vicinity clean (clean place get lesser littering) [which you do]. Second: if you see people littering, say something about it. In the famous olden days, when a ‘youngster’ dropped something, there would be an old person to tell him or her to pick it up. And old people were respected (now they litter as well…). These days, we do not dare to say anything anymore, and we do not have trust in bystanders to come to our aid.
The big problem is that as a society we do no longer control ourselves – I mean this literally. We are no close group anymore. There is no trust.
We have given up too much responsibility to the government, and thus collectively stopped taking care of things ourselves. And that’s a sliding scale. You cannot outsource responsibility. But that is what we did. And the results are the litter in your street, up to the financial crisis (people not being realistic about lending, and bankers downright fraudulent) and the environment going down the drain.
It all starts with all of us as individuals, then all of us in our families, then in our communities. And we lost that. Most of all I feel most of us have lost ourselves. And if an individual doesn’t function well, also the group is affected.
People as individuals have to become aware. And that goes one person at a time. All we can do is stimulate and help each other and try to live as good and aware as we can. And connect to others. Talk with strangers. Help each other with little things. Smile when you walk on the streets. Stand up for what we believe in. Share our passion.
Again, as Ghandi said: “be the change you want to see in the world”.
And as for the government: it should not be there to solve things we as people are responsible for. It is OUR government, and it should enable us to live life, in the broadest sense. So provide the platform: education, healthcare, an infrastructure. C’est ca. Big (social) government had a role once to bring us further (I am narrowing this to the Western world), but it went too far. We do not need all it’s care and protection anymore - it took away our own responsibility for our own prosperity, our common interests, and our environment (in the small and broad sense).
The government doing more, taking care of our problems, only keeps us ‘asleep’ and away from our potential, by lifting us from individual responsibilities. Any well educated healthy person should be able, and CAN, take care of him- or herself in a free society. And should do so. Government care smothers human potential.
But we, as individual can do anything, as soon as we realize we can.
beatrijs | 09-Mar-09 at 2:40 pm | Permalink
I agree with you, honestly! But I am afraid that a change in bahaviour is not close yet. It was just reported today that 500 million pounds is spend on littering every year. see this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7932111.stm
One newspaper blamed the government that this is a waste of taxpayers money. The papers doesn’t say a thing about that it is the taxpayer who does the littering! If even bright journalist don’t see that connection I think it will take a long time before we will be able to change this.
It feels like a whole generation is lost. It are parents who have not brought up their children responsibly. Everybody feels entitled to happiness but no obligation to give something to society. This is the result of the 1960’s generation who thought that freedom meant freedom to be excused of any repsonsibility towards the other and society in general. This has resulted in one or more generations of people who are selfish and only persuing their own happiness. This can be seen in the behaviour of the ‘litterer’ and the banker, the mortgage taker and lender.
And you are right that change is only possible if every individual starts the change within themselves.
But as a responsible citizen, politician or government what do you do in the meantime? My point is the practical problems of every day life are not immediatly solved. The sad thing is that a lot of people just don’t want to change. Only the law can force them by writing out big fines. That might do te trick. And educate young children avout the environment.
Anyway I think we agree on this issue.
Willem | 10-Mar-09 at 9:14 am | Permalink
It is a sad world in which we need laws for such little things. Makes me think of a quote I read: ‘When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.’ (GK Chesterton). You make a good point here about the 60’s.
As to ‘what do you do as a responsible citizen’, it is hard nut to crack. Don’t get frustrated is one I guess. Or as the famous words say: Forgive them Lord, for they do not know what they do. (I’m into quotes today…).
I once met somebody from South Africa and we spoke long about living there. And even though there is official equality there now, there is much inequality still. If only because of the lack of education that persisted for decades. This also sometimes results in, let’s say, less effective behaviour on the part of the less educated - without any bad intention by the way. At a certain point he said that it is always up to the ones who know more and experienced more, to share their knowledge and experience. Even if that means they have to do more, which might at first hand not seem fair. Perhaps this translates to responsible people adressing the litterers, and to responsible people cleaning their pavement every day again, doing that little more, so it can trickle down eventually…
Perhaps most people don’t know they can change?
Willem | 13-Mar-09 at 9:59 pm | Permalink
Unbelievable.
Yesterday somebody from Rotterdam Municipal Services called, asking me whether I felt safe in my neigbourhood and whether I perceived it as clean. Whether I had suggestions for improvements. It was quite a long questionnaire. I mentioned there was some graffiti. I was not sure they would put the information they gained to use, at least not soon.
This morning I got out, and… somebody was cleaning up the graffiti!!!
What can you say; it’s just great!
Beatrijs | 17-Mar-09 at 10:08 am | Permalink
You see, together we can work it out!! I am proud of Rotterdam they have come a long way. Just think about how the city looked 10 - 15 years ago. It was great to be there this weekend. The skyline looks different every time! Another giant building is rising up at the river front. Wow!
Beatrijs | 17-Mar-09 at 10:13 am | Permalink
You mean it is a bit like teaching children by living the example? That seems like a very wise lesson. I’ll keep that in mind when I clean my pavement. And yes I think a majority doesn’t know that they are in control themselves. Some people claim that this is the result of the welfare state, but may be it is also embedded in human nature?