A Red Light for Scofflaws [1]Law-and-Order is the longest-running and probably the best-loved political issue in U.S. history. Yet it is painfully apparent that millions of Americans who would never think of themselves as lawbreakers, let alone criminals, are taking increasing liberties with the legal codes that are designed to protect and nourish their society. Indeed, there are moments today---amid outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy-when it seems as though the scofflaw represents the wave of the future. Harvard Sociologist David Riesman suspects that a majority of Americans have blithely taken to committing supposedly minor derelictions as a matter of course. Already, Riesman says, the ethic of U.S. society is in danger of becoming this: “You’re a fool if you obey the rules.” 法律和秩序，可以说是美国历史上历时最久、或许还是人们最津津乐道的政治问题。但是很显然，许许多多从未觉得自己是违法者，更别提说是罪犯的美国人，正愈来愈肆意违反那些旨在保护和促进其社会的法律规范。事实上，如今这样的违法犯罪事件时有发生，例如：随处乱扔垃圾、逃税、违禁噪音以及驾驶的无政府状态，就好像藐视法律代表了未来的潮流一样。哈佛大学的社会学家戴维 ·里斯曼预测：大多数的美国人都轻率地把犯点小过失不当一回事。里斯曼说：美国社会的道德规范已经处于这样一种危险之中：如果你遵守规则，你就是傻瓜。 [2]Nothing could be more obvious than the evidence supporting Riesman. Scofflaws abound in amazing variety. The graffiti-prone turn public surfaces into visual rubbish. Bicyclists often ride as though two-wheeled vehicles are exempt from all traffic laws. Litterbugs convert their communities into trash dumps. Widespread flurries of ordinances have failed to clear public places of high-decibel portable radios, just as earlier laws failed to wipe out the beer-soaked hooliganism that plagues many parks. Tobacco addicts remain hopelessly blind to signs that say NO SMOKING. Respectably dressed pot smokers no longer bother to duck out of public sight to pass around a joint. The flagrant use of cocaine is a festering scandal in middle and upper-class life. And then there are (hello, everybody!) the jaywalkers. 有大量显而易见的证据都能正面里斯曼的观点。玩忽违法行为形形色色、令人震惊。有乱涂抹倾向的人在公众场合随意乱涂乱画，到处可见。骑自行车者骑车，就好像两个车轮的 车辆不受交通法规的限制一样。随地乱扔垃圾的人，把社区变成了垃圾堆。大肆宣传的禁令也未能清除在公共场所中弥漫的手提收音机的高分贝噪音，正如早年的禁令未能清除破坏各公园秩序的酒后滋事行为。瘾君子对那些“禁止吸烟”的标志熟视无睹，令人绝望。衣冠楚楚的大麻烟客出入烟馆不再藏头露尾、怕人发现。可卡因毒品泛滥，是中上层社会中恼人的丑闻。再就是很多的违章穿行马路的人（嘿！各位！）。 [3]The dangers of scofflawry vary widely. The person who illegally spits on the sidewalk remains disgusting, but dearly poses less risk to others than the company that illegally buries hazardous chemical waste in an unauthorized location. The fare beater on the subway presents less threat to life than the landlord who ignores fire safety statutes. The most immediately and measurably dangerous scofflawry, however, also happens to be the most visible. The culprit is the American driver, whose lawless activities today add up to a colossal public nuisance. The hazards range from routine double parking that jams city streets to the drunk driving that kills some 25,000 people and injures at least 650,000 others yearly! Illegal speeding on open highways? New surveys show that on some interstate highways 83%of all drivers are currently ignoring the federal 55m.p.h. speed limit. 玩忽违法的危害非常广泛。在路边违法吐痰的人固然可恶，但与在未授权的地方非法埋藏危险化学废弃物的公司相比，他们制造的危害要小得多了。地铁打票机与无视消防法规的房主相比，对生命造成的威胁要小得多。然而，那些带来最直接、最可量化危害的违法行为，恰好是最常见的。罪魁祸首就是美国司机，其严重的违法活动给当今社会造成了巨大的公害。这些危害造成街道堵塞的习惯性的两排停车，还有造成一年约25000人死亡、至少650000人受伤的酒后驾驶。在无封闭的公路上非法超速驾驶？新的调查显示，在州际公路上，目前约有83％的司机无视联邦每小时55英里的限制规定。 [4]The most flagrant scofflaw of them all is the red-light runner. The flouting of stop signals has got so bad in Boston that residents tell an anecdote about a fabbvwl1 insists that red lights are “just for decoration”. The power of the stoplight to control traffic seems to be waning everywhere. In Los Angeles, red-light running has become perhaps the city's most common traffic violation. In New York City, going through an inter-section is like Russian roulette. Admits Police Commissioner Robert J. Mc Guire: “Today it’s a 50-50 tossup as to whether people will stop for a red light.” Meanwhile, his own police largely ignore the lawbreaking. （4） 其中，最泛滥的就是闯红灯者。在波士顿，无视停车信号现象已经变得如此严重，以致于当地居民常讲一个出租车司机的趣事，因为该司机坚持认为“红灯只是装饰”。管控交通红灯的作用在各地都在慢慢消失。在洛杉矶，闯红灯也许已经成为城市中最常见的交通违规现象了。在纽约市，穿过十字路口，就像俄罗斯轮盘赌。警察局长罗伯特·麦克盖尔承认：“今天人们对待停车信号简直就象玩掷硬币游戏，停车与否机会各一半。”同时，他们自己的警察大都对违法行为视而不见。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/8868d6ee551810a6f524866e.html