Jaywalking

Let's talk about Jaywalking. For those unfamiliar, Jaywalking is when you cross the street at a point that isn't designated for pedestrians to cross. In many places, Jaywalking is illegal. And yet, lots of people still decide they're going to do it anyway. And I'm not talking hardened criminals or anything here. Normal, law abiding citizens are prone to jaywalk on a whim. Sometimes even frequently!
 
Today I want to take a quick look at the phenomenon of Jaywalking, and see what we might be able to glean from it. 
 
Let's start with why Jaywalking is illegal in the first place. The idea is that it comes from a place of harm prevention and safety. The safest place to cross the street is at places where all the cars that could hit you are stopped, whether that's at a red light, a stop sign, or even just a pedestrian crossing. Meanwhile, if you're trying to cross in the middle of a stretch of road, you're putting yourself at more risk. Cars may not be on the lookout for a pedestrian in the middle of the street, and even if they are, they might not be able to stop in time to prevent a collision.  There might also be cars behind them, who are then also put in danger by their sudden breaking. Especially in the early days of cars, people were hit all the time because the rules of engagement weren't solidified yet. Cars are dangerous, and we didn't have respect for them yet. For both the cars and the pedestrians it's "safer" to not jaywalk.
 
At least, that's what people prone to following stupid archaic rules might tell you. 
 
After all that, you might be thinking that I'm here to take a personal stance against Jaywalking. That's actually not the case. Here's the thing, Jaywalking as an activity is only as dangerous as you allow it to be. If you're trying to sprint across a busy highway in the middle of the day yeah Jaywalking is pretty dangerous. But if you're out with your friends in the country at 4AM chances are you can probably get across the road with incredibly low risk. Jaywalking as an activity is something you can do a million times and never get injured. In fact, it might be more probable that you trip on the curb and fall and hurt yourself as opposed to getting actually hit by a car, assuming you're careful about it. Even in not the absolute perfect situation, so long as you're paying any amount of attention and not taking unnecessary risk, Jaywalking should be fine. 
 
I personally believe that Jaywalking should be legalized. I think that punishing something people can do 100% of the time with no consequence is both pointless and overcomplicated. It can be easy to hear that and think "okay Tarro, but if we legalize Jaywalking that means that more people are going to try to do it, and that'll lead to more deaths!" But, will it? Here's the thing. There are lots of things you can do that are dangerous outside of Jaywalking. 10 people died going skydiving in 2022. Does that mean that we should avoid promoting skydiving? One in 500,000 tandem jumps lead to fatalities on average, that means the more people skydive, the more people die, right? And skydiving is far from the only example. There are tons of things people engage in that are "more dangerous" than necessary. To specifically label this one as somehow worse for some reason makes no sense. This is all still presumed on the idea that there is an innate risk, and yet I would argue that skydiving is still significantly more risky than crossing the street when no cars are on it.  And it's not like legalization would lead to some kind of epidemic of people throwing themselves into traffic. Self preservation still exists. The goal of legalizing jaywalking isn't to give ignorant people an excuse when they get hit by cars. The goal is to stop punishing the people that quickly jog across a slow road as opposed to walking down to the lights.
 
And even if we legalized Jaywalking, that doesn't mean that all kinds of Jaywalking like activities would get a carte Blanche. We still have lots of laws against things like reckless endangerment that would still very much apply to someone trying to cross the street in an unsafe way. To specifically call out all forms of the action doesn't really do anything to keep people any safer than the existing laws do otherwise. They only exist because it's easier to maintain the status quo than it is to actually change anything. And all of this, of course, is ignoring the misuse of laws by people that have the means to do so. A movie crew, a cop, an event, there are lots of ways that people in the right positions can "legally" jaywalk all the time. Hell, they can just close down the whole street. And you can argue there's a social benefit to that, but if jaywalking is really so awful it's a little weird that it's only talked about in the context of me doing it, and we're not looking to address it in other contexts where it's being done on a much grander scale.
 
The other thing is, people that jaywalk all the time are just better at it. There's for sure a subset of people that don't jaywalk very often. As such, if they do decide they want to jaywalk, they're going to be less knowledgeable about it. If we instead embraced open jaywalking, we could have much healthier conversations about it, and teach people the right ways to do it instead of just saying "it's illegal!" At the end of the day, people are always going to jaywalk. It's a fact of life. If your goal is really to reduce harm, education makes way more sense than alienation. 
 
I'm not saying that everyone should jaywalk. It's not for everyone. I'm just saying that for the people that choose to do it, we shouldn't have arbitrary rules punishing them for it just because we don't want to think hard enough about it. Jaywalking as an activity in itself isn't dangerous. It's the context around it that matters. And so to claim that all jaywalking should be illegal is hilariously reductive and only serves as an annoyance to daily life. 
 
Jaywalking should be legalized. Reckless behavior should not. The distinction really is that simple. 
 
 
 
 
 
Let's talk about bestiality. For those unfamiliar, bestiality is when you have some form of sexual intercourse with a non-human animal. In many places, bestiality is illegal. And yet, lots of people still decide they're going to do it anyway. And I'm not talking hardened criminals or anything here. Normal, law abiding citizens are prone to bestiality on a whim. Sometimes even frequently!
 
Today I want to take a quick look at the phenomenon of bestiality, and see what we might be able to glean from it.
 
Let's start with why bestiality is illegal in the first place. The idea is that it comes from a place of harm prevention and safety. The technically safest people to have sex with are people of the same species, regardless of the type of sex that you're engaging with. Meanwhile, if you're trying to get frisky with a massive horse, you're putting yourself at more risk. Animals may not be on the lookout for the limitations of the human body in the middle of the act, and even if they are, they might not be able to stop in time to prevent harm.  There might also be diseases they carry, which are then also going to put others in danger by their sudden transmission. Especially in the early days of human civilization, people were engaging in harmful acts because the idea of animal personhood wasn't solidified yet. Bestiality is conceptually dangerous, and we didn't have respect for it yet. For both the animals and the humans, it's "safer" to not get down with our animal pals.
 
At least, that's what people prone to following stupid archaic rules might tell you. 
 
After all that, you might be thinking that I'm here to take a personal stance against bestiality. That's actually not the case. Here's the thing, bestiality as an activity is only as dangerous as you allow it to be. If you're trying to rub up against a shark in the middle of the ocean yeah bestiality is pretty dangerous. But if you're chilling with your mare girlfriend in the country after a romantic night together and she's giving you that wink, chances are you can probably get busy with her with incredibly low risk. Sex with animals as an activity is something you can do a million times and never result in injuries for either party. In fact, it might be more probable that you trip on a chew toy and fall and hurt yourself as opposed to causing harm with bestiality, assuming you're careful about it. Even in not the absolute perfect situation, so long as you're paying any amount of attention and not taking unnecessary risk, bestiality should be fine. 
 
I personally believe that bestiality should be legalized. I think that punishing something people can do 100% of the time with no consequence is both pointless and overcomplicated. It can be easy to hear that and think "okay Tarro, but if we legalize sex with animals that means that more people are going to try to do it, and that'll lead to more deaths!" But, will it? Here's the thing. There are lots of things you can do with animals that are dangerous outside of bestiality. An estimated 100,000 dogs die in cars per year. Does that mean that we should make driving with dogs illegal? One in 366 people crash with every thousand miles driven, that means the more people drive, the more dogs die, right? And driving is far from the only example. There are tons of things people and their animals engage in that are "more dangerous" than necessary. To specifically label this one as somehow worse for some reason makes no sense. This is all still presumed on the idea that there is an innate risk, and yet I would argue that driving is still significantly more risky than a bit of friskiness between two willing partners. And it's not like legalization would lead to some kind of epidemic of people eager to get their freak on with an animal. Sexuality and morality still exist. The goal of legalizing bestiality isn't to give ignorant people an excuse when they harm an animals. The goal is to stop punishing the people that have a romantic night in with Fido as opposed to waiting for the next furry convention to meet someone in a cute suit.
 
And even if we legalized bestiality, that doesn't mean that all kinds of sex like activities would get a carte Blanche. We still have lots of laws against things like animal abuse that would still very much apply to someone trying to interact with an animal in an inappropriate way. To specifically call out all forms of the sexually gratifying action doesn't really do anything to keep people any safer than the existing laws do otherwise. They only exist because it's easier to maintain the status quo than it is to actually change anything. And all of this, of course, is ignoring the misuse of laws by people that have the means to do so. A farmer, a breeder, a farmhand, there are lots of ways that people in the right positions can "legally" fuck animals all the time. Hell, they can just rape and murder them. And you can argue there's a social benefit to that, but if bestiality is really so awful it's a little weird that it's usually only talked about in the context of me doing it, and we're not looking to address it in other contexts where it's being done on a much grander scale.
 
The other thing is, people that date animals all the time are just better at it. There's for sure a subset of people that don't put out for dogs very often. As such, if they do decide they want to do it, they're going to be less knowledgeable about it. If we instead embraced open bestiality, we could have much healthier conversations about it, and teach people the right ways to do it instead of just saying "it's illegal!" At the end of the day, people are always going to get together with animals. It's a fact of life. If your goal is really to reduce harm, education makes way more sense than alienation. 
 
I'm not saying that everyone should have sex with animals. It's not for everyone. I'm just saying that for the people that choose to do it, we shouldn't have arbitrary rules punishing them for it just because we don't want to think hard enough about it. Bestiality as an activity in itself isn't dangerous. It's the context around it that matters. And so to claim that all bestiality should be illegal is hilariously reductive and only serves as an annoyance to daily life. 
 
Bestiality should be legalized. Reckless behavior should not. The distinction really is that simple. 
 
 
Article written by Tarro (July 2024) 
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