Curtis - 1.20.2007

I have to assume that in the last panel here, Curtis’ Mom just doesn’t feel like getting into an hour-long discussion with her son, and that’s why she claims not to know. The long answer may be a bit complicated, but the short answer is very simple:

• Most people are apathetic, and don’t care about a specific issue until it’s negative effects are felt in a big way close to home.
• Politicians are ridiculous opportunists, and will do whatever it takes to make it look like they are serving their people’s needs. The best way to do this is to lead the charge on whatever the hot issue is, and milk it to death before the public stops caring about it. They’re just looking for a parade to jump in front of, so they can claim they had been leading it all along.

“It’s about time!”, Curtis’ Mom exclaims. I wonder if she ever brought the issue of speeding on Ogden Avenue up in front of the city council or wrote a letter to her local politician. Like most of us (including me), she probably noticed the problem, but was too apathetic to try and do anything about it.

It’s really just as well, though, because if she had made a stink about it, the government was likely to ignore her. It’s hard to blame them. If they approved taxpayer funds for the speed bumps, their political opponents would accuse them of wasting tax dollars in the next campaign. The local citizens would think “That’s right! I paid for those speed bumps, and all they do is annoy me when I’m driving. I’ll vote for the other guy.” Of course, that’s assuming they’ll even vote at all.

It isn’t until something major happens that most of the citizens will start to care about the problem and the only political risk for Joe Councilman is if he looks like he’s not doing anything about it. The problem now is that whatever measures are taken are often an overreaction, and are almost always not the best solution.

Cars are speeding on Ogden Avenue. What’s the best way to solve this problem? We could post traffic cops there more often to give big tickets. That would cut down on speeding. Maybe a traffic light or stop sign at the intersection where children cross. What about some traffic calming measures that reduce vehicle’s speed without requiring them to come to a near-stop every 50 feet. There are probably several potential solutions, but only one is so obvious that everyone will realize that the politicians are working hard for the children… Speed bumps!

Two years from now, the public will have resumed their apathy, and be cursing the speed bumps every time they drive down Ogden Avenue. The politicians will have been reelected, and have moved on to some other now-pressing issue like teen smoking or something, and the cycle will continue indefinitely. Every time something bad hits close to home, the people will clamor for more laws and regulations, the politicians will try their best to look like they’re solving the problem, the real issues won’t be addressed at all, and we’ll all suffer through even more bureaucracy and red tape. It’s the way of the world.

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