(The Nationalist, 25 July 2003)
Less than two years ago, plastic bags were everywhere: on footpaths, blocking drains, in gutters, festooning trees and bushes, in rivers, in school play-areas, on every bit of waste ground. They were an unsightly mess. To try and respond to our habit of littering wherever we feel like it, there were Tidy Towns competitions, awareness campaigns in schools, appeals to public spirit. They had little effect. Then came the levy of 15 cents per bag. The problem of plastic bag litter disappeared in a few months. Now we have a clean countryside, and you can open your eyes and look around you without the visual insult of pervasive plastic rubbish.
We have a road death rate which is 1½ times higher than other OECD countries. We accept that a fatality or so a day is an acceptable price to pay for a lifestyle of personal mobility. There are road safety campaigns from time to time, but, like the anti-litter campaigns, they have little effect. Then, with the start of this year, came a system of penalty points for a variety of driving offences. Road deaths fell substantially.
Both changes hit us in the pocket. Where before we had exhortations to good behaviour, now we have penalties for bad behaviour. And it works. Where before we sought excuses, now we find remedies. Where before we blamed someone else, now we change our behaviour. We showed that laws which are merely aspirational, as many of ours are, have no effect, but that those backed by imposed financial penalties bring the desired result. Our statute books are full of laws which have penalties that are not enforced, and those laws are ignored.
What does all this say about us? Both of the above changes came as an eye-opener to me. I had not expected there would be such rapid and substantial change. Looking back on it, I now think I was more than a little naïve about human nature. Does this mean that we reject self-discipline but respond to imposed discipline? It looks like it. But that is the attitude of a child, not of an adult.
This has the effect of leaving me wondering and ruminating about Irish people, and about human nature in general. I’m not sure where I go from here with these thoughts, but I’ll keep watching and thinking. Any comments or ideas?