If you’re trying to change human behavior through laws, you’d better be careful how those laws are written.
We’ve already talked about this, and the city of San Diego, CA has just given us a great example. The city was spending a lot of money because of beach parties…dealing with the drunkenness and cleaning up the litter. So they outlawed alcohol on beaches, defining a beach as “the sand or land area bordering the water of an ocean or bay.”
Did that solve the problem? No, it made it worse. The partyers simply moved onto inner tubes, air mattresses and inflatable rafts a few feet from shore. So the city was still stuck with the drunkenness and litter but also had to add more life guards… to rescue any reveler who slipped into the water and was too drunk to save himself. Needless to say the city is going to amend the law.
I can’t help wondering, though, should they have spent that money on lifeguards or should they simply have given posthumous Darwin Awards to those partyers who managed to do themselves in?
What do you think? 🙂
I think they should be given the posthumous Darwin Awards. We are overpopulated & this might help a little. Save money too.
Seriously a death should stop the practice. And save hiring more lifeguards, keep the ocean cleaner.
If I formulated a law, it would probably make things worse. I had a friend when I lived in Orange county who got me into scuba diving. He like abalone, and there were rules against harvesting abalone smaller than a certain size. To stay out of trouble, he would catch the abalone underwater and eat it before surfacing. There is nothing like fresh sashimi.
Law is a pretty ham-fisted way to intervene in behaviour. The best way to change behaviour is to alter the environment but this is complicated – it means intervening at various points and taking account of feedback systems.
It can be done I think. It would be a legislative change to bring in a living minimum wage or a health system accessible to all. This would change things for the better in my view (though it would need to deal with those who profit from the current system(s))
They should have amended the law as soon as they realized their mistake — No alcohol in the water or on the beach; no possession or consumption of alcohol permitted.
I’ve noted similar restrictions in many of the public recreation areas we’ve visited. People getting out of hand with their “fun times” and partying cause regulations and rules that adversely impact others.
bikehikebabe,
My guess is it will never come to pass. 🙂
Looney,
We used to have abalone at times when I was a kid…my uncle used to get them. They were the big ones, though, and tough even though my mother always pounded them first to tenderize them. I must say, the idea of eating them raw under the water doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t even like raw oysters in a restaurant. 🙂
Evan,
I can see that some laws depending on natural consequences might work. For instance, people who litter having to do community service cleaning up the beaches. And fines to pay for the extra surveillance.
Mike,
I’m not sure why it took so long to change the law. It seems like a no-brainer to me too. I agree it penalizes people who would just like to enjoy a beer or two at the beach. It’s too bad.
Maybe the law is not a perfect tools to change human behavior. However, so far, it’s still a perfect tools that we can chose to manage public interests. Have another choice?
tikno,
I would not call the present system perfect, but given human nature it’s probably about the best we can do. In Iraq right now they don’t have a government in spite of the elections because the two major party leaders each want to be Prime Minister and won’t compromise.
Hi Tikno, there are many alternative ways to changing behaviour than the law. We do these every day with friends and family.
In the public sphere there are education campaigns, alternative dispute resolution, deliberative democracy options and so on. They don’t make the press often but there are many options that have been around for a while now.
Man will always find ways to circumvent restrictions if they are imposed. Prohibition if the USA and India are classic examples. I do not have a solution to this particular problem, but I think that collaring and punishing for other offenses like littering, committing nuisance in public places etc, if they were on the statute, might have helped reduce the incidence.
Rummuser,
I wonder how well the prohibition against alcohol is enforced in Muslim countries? My guess is there is little public drunkenness and driving while drinking. I also think some people are more apt to obey laws and others aren’t. Personality and culture do make a difference.
I like the idea of having litterers do community service. It’s a logical consequence.
I remember going on a tour of northern Norway once. An Israeli threw a piece of paper out the bus window and most of us yelled, “Litterbug!” She was startled and upset because it was perfectly normal behavior where she lived. And I remember a little boy carefully unwrapping a piece of candy and neatly dropping the wrapper on the floor of a train in France. He was clearly well-mannered and doing what was appropriate in that culture.
tikno,
That’s a good way of looking at it. 🙂
tikno,
Hello Jean and Evan,
I see it in two point of view, that is in micro and macro scope.
The law (NOT produced from a dictatorial government) through bill or regulations is addressed to (meant for) macro scope although not perfect to arrange human behavior in each individual.
Establishment of human behavior from childhood through religion, school and family is working in micro scope. Additionally, usually in each particular society also applies their own unique norms.
If the establishment of human behavior from micro scope has fail (maybe there is a few of unexpected output / “products”) then on out there there is another filter (law) as the barrier for this “bad products”.
Actually there is the negative energy in human self such as cannibalism, free-sex, ego, etc, and the both barriers above (in micro and macro scope) should be experienced by each person, and necessary although not perfect.
Like in many holy books said: “only God is perfect”.
PS I just wrote about More Loopholes at Transforming Stress.