9:50
a.m. First sunny day from the start in
weeks, though that's not really true, we had some when mom and dad were here. Clear and frost.
Yesterday
finished two essays on "Unreal City" and "Words" for the
John Harriott Memorial Prize Contest. I
don't honestly think I will win, but I like the essays, and it was fun putting
them together. I have worked on a third
called "Laws," but I'm not at all sure where I'm going with it, so I
don't know if I'll send that in as well.
I much prefer to tell stories about myself and to write about less
controversial subjects!
One
of the unexpected benefits of a sabbatical abroad is a better understanding of
one's own country. In choosing to live
in Great Britain for the year, I well expected that there was much I would
learn about Britain and the rest of Europe, but I did not expect to learn more,
as I have, about my own home, the USA.
Not
too long ago, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar on the impact of
environmental laws on lenders; that is, what happens when a lender ends up with
a mortgage on contaminated property. The
problem is a well known one back home.
Congress has enacted a substantial number of laws in this area, enough
to keep lawyers and judges busy until well into the next century. The state of environmental laws in Britain
(and the EEC ) has not evolved to
the stage it has in the US, and when it does, it's a good bet that Europeans
will look to America not only for ideas that work, but for the kinds of
solutions to be avoided as well.
Although
I am not a litigator, I do have to keep up with the latest court decisions. I am not at all familiar with British law (at
least since it was adopted in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries
as our common law), but I do read the newspapers (excluding the weekly law reports, which seem
to be about as dull as the advance sheets I am forced to read back home).
Having
said all this, I can see striking differences between the American legal system
and what I see of the British system.
In
the US, if a drunk driver kills someone, it seems to be the consensus judgment
that the wrongdoer should be put away for 135 years; here I have a sense that
it is more like five. It is now
commonplace to observe that the British are not as litigious as Americans, but
it goes beyond this, for even though the cost of living here appears to be
equal to or greater than at home, damages awarded plaintiffs in personal injury
actions are much lower in Britain than in the US.
What
I see, as I look back across the ocean, is not only the frequently noticed
attitude that people no longer like to bear responsibility for their own
mistakes or misfortune, but, more fundamentally, a belief that the aim of law
should be not only to fix wrongs, but to make things right as well. The British attitude appears to be (in the
legislating area) if it works at least somewhat don't fix it, and (in the
judicial system) things aren't ever perfect and we can't do too much more than
we've done - how interesting that two similar systems have ended up so
different!
While there may be present in American
attitudes that evidence that unmistakable American belief in the perfect
society, I can't help but see something much more unhealthy, a sign of our age
that seems to travel around the world and spread faster than the flu.
That
disease is the belief that we human beings have, from time to time, that we can
make everything all right. Seventy-five
years ago the god was communism; today there are many who promote the god of
capitalism, though the god of green (in an environmental sense) is rapidly
gaining converts. The god of law is
simply another of these characters in the temple of the world, each one cloaked
in an ideal, this time of justice.
When
will we learn? I am the Lord thy God,
thou shalt not have false gods before thee.
12:25
p.m. British Rail, Cambridge to King's
Cross. The day alternates between clear
skies and grey clouds that darken the day.
We're now speeding along at a pretty good clip and the sun is out. Not far back, from within the grey, the
bright part of the day shone off in the distance, the color of orange/pink,
like pink lemonade. I asked Cathy if she
could stand living in Seattle after the experience of the grey days here and
she said, "Yes, if I had a nice house like the one we have now."
Last
night and this morning I worked on my essay about laws, coming to the
conclusion that the Americans have an attitude that law, like a false god, can
solve all problems. Nothing, however, can work such miracles.
Now
I begin to wonder if I don't see place as a bit of god myself, thinking that
places, whether they be Malibu ,
England Seattle
I
realize, of course, that living in a place I love will not answer all of my
needs. I tell myself I like Las Vegas
Saturday
7 December. Shopping in
Cambridge is more crowded than usual. I
take the boys to their golf lessons. I
buy a book case, then take it easy. We
attend evening mass and have steak a poivre for dinner.
Today
is the second day of the hard frost, which is quite beautiful. The top of the six foot hedge to my right is
covered in ice, as is just about everything within ten feet of the ground. Most of the trees are now barren.
We
have frost at home and it too is lovely, but there is not much for the frost to
paint! It is the desert after all, and
the absence of humidity and lack of plant life mean that frost is limited to
the lawns and the cars left outdoors overnight.
Here everything that is not paved is filled with some kind of living
thing, and the only things not white are the roads and the recently ploughed
fields, though even they have small crests of white here and there.
We
are now officially half way through the sabbatical: we left June 7, six months
ago today. I don't have any new insights
into all of this other than what I mentioned yesterday: Las Vegas is a place I
have to remind myself to like; it does not come naturally.
Thinking
this morning that I am simply too much into myself! I shall do some Christmas shopping and try to
imagine the delight of those opening the presents.
 |
| The American Playing Fields, Saffron Walden |
 |
| Market Square with Christmas Decorations |
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| The Furniture Store Sale |
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