At least, jaywalkers listened

More than 100 years ago, jaywalking was an epidemic in big cities. So many pedestrians were being killed by new fangled automobiles that Los Angeles seriously considered banning autos from the streets.

A California automobile club was horrified by the prospects of these vehicles being barred. It started to look into ways of stopping the practice of pedestrians walking into the path of on-coming cars.

Nothing seemed to help.

Then, a man who was put in charge of solving the problem came up with a simple solution.

He started a campaign to ridicule the jaywalkers. In fact, this is when the name for these reckless walkers was originated. Jays were considered buffoons, clowns, rubes or simply naive.

Reportedly, pedestrians were soon too embarrassed to jaywalk.

The same technique, that of public ridicule, is alive and well today, but it is doing no good.

Saturday Night Live has become hardcore in ridiculing the Trump administration. The attacks are couched in humor, but the spirit is not light, and more often heavy-handed and mean-spirited. The recent Grammy award show had political moments. One group referred to President Trump as President Agent Orange. Some of the speeches at the protest marches after Trump’s inauguration were beyond the pale, as well.

Such mass audience events can be as abrasive and single-minded as Trump’s own attacks on his targets. Neither side is innocent. These tactics may have worked on influencing jaywalkers 100 years ago, but the effects are not bound to do the same social good today.

Events such as these and Trump’s own statements only separate and make more rigid the separations. They confirm opinions rather than change or modify them.

Both sides exercise their freedom of speech with aplomb. The exercise of that freedom, however, need not be unremittently volatile. The country is horribly divided. Unrestrained attacks and chronic dismissal of those with different views will not bring the different camps together.

One example may prove important. The courts are involved in judging the legality of the president’s travel ban. So far, the process has proceeded without excessive name calling and abuse of those on different sides. The issues are being debated, not the people involved.

It is an example for the entire country.

Outrageous statements breed outrage. There is enough of that to go around.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher