SPECTRUM: Behaving badly on KGB road

In her fascinating book ‘Behaving Badly – The New Morality In Politics, Sex and Business’, (Doubleday, 2017) writer and business executive Eden Collinsworth takes on the vital task of canvassing change in our notions of morality, ethics and what constitutes bad behavior. As a kind of baseline measure, she cites Orwell’s observation that “On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.”

There are also some fun facts interlaced throughout her narrative. For example, it turns out that we humans have a primal susceptibility to immoral behavior in the late afternoon. So it is that Happy Hour is based on research.

Traffic is where most of us are subjected to the bad, if not lethal, behavior of others. Consider the situation on Knik-Goose Bay Road in Wasilla, otherwise known as Valley Death Alley.

One does not have to be a traffic engineer, state trooper or daily commuter to see that the traffic volume greatly exceeds the road’s carrying capacity. In light of that fact, it behooves the socially responsible, moral driver to conscientiously obey the speed limits, avoid driving impaired and, in general, make an extra effort to be safe.

And yet, KGB Road is plagued by scofflaws who speed, pass in the double-yellow zones and cause untoward death and destruction. Speeding on KGB is a leading cause of injury-accidents. Law enforcement is inadequate. Few speeders are apprehended. Quite a large number, at least judging by the nasty decals and bumper stickers on their trucks, are just aggressive, anti-social types.

Still, most of us live by civilized norms. Most of us rely upon the law to define the rules we all must live by. Speed limits and double-yellow zones on KGB exist for good reason. We look to law enforcement, the courts and the corrections complex to apprehend and punish those who transgress.

The current situation on KGB, however, exposes how frail both morality and the law really are. No legal speed limit, no cultural norms, no amount of driver education, manages to help the innocent victims killed, maimed and disabled by the scofflaws and their bad behavior. So-called tort reform legislation, which grossly tips the scales of justice in favor of insurance companies, makes it all that much more difficult for victims to obtain redress.

Navigating the risks of the physical world, such as driving on KGB, aware that scofflaws are increasingly behind a lot of the death and destruction, comes with our living in a car-dependent society. That does not mean, however, that the scofflaws are perforce entitled to wreak havoc.

As Collinsworth notes, we often struggle to deal with people and things that are less than good. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.