Should Americans be forced to use public transportation?

No

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by Michael Greaney

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Coerced public transportation calls an image of ants scurrying around, directed not by their own personal wills, but by the demands of the collective.

Not surprisingly, in his novel, "The Once and Future King," the basis for the musical play and film "Camelot" and the Disney animated production "The Sword in the Stone," Theodore White has "Wart," the name by which the foundling Arthur is known, turn into various creatures in order to gain perspective on the human condition. One of the more chilling transformations, and one that did not make the cut to the Disney film, was to an ant, to White, the symbol of the perfect collectivist totalitarian society. Plastered along the tunnels in the ant hill were posters that read, "Whatever is not forbidden is compulsory."

This attitude has been prevalent in Europe for many centuries - as witness the orientation of the Code Napoleon that a suspect is guilty until proven innocent, and that a citizen may not undertake a particular act unless the law specifically allows that act. (In the United States, if the law is silent, the act is presumed lawful, or at least not illegal.) Strangely enough, however, this attitude has also begun infecting Americans. If an act is desirable, people should be forced to do it; if undesirable, a law should be passed prohibiting that act.

This is directly contrary to the society described by Alexis de Tocqueville in his monumental, "Democracy in America." The French commentator, comparing America to his native land - and by which France frequently suffered by the comparison - was extremely impressed with the fact that "in America, the government seems hardly to rule at all." Instead, when something needed to be done, Americans would organize and join together of their own free will and on their own initiative, form temporary or permanent associations, and get to work.

The problem today is that many Americans feel helpless to effect change in their own social conditions or in the surrounding culture. Partly this is due to the increasing alienation forced on the human person by advancing technology - it's never quite as satisfying to accomplish a task by pushing a button as it is by doing the work one's self - but this is itself a symptom of the most serious problem America and the world face: lack of widespread ownership of the means of production. Far too many people push buttons for the benefit of other people, and consequently feel no connection to other people or to society itself.

What does this mean for public transportation v. private automobiles? Everything. The ability to look outside of one's self can be developed, in part, in direct ratio to our level of "connection" with society. The principal means of connecting people with society is ownership of the means of production. As Daniel Webster observed, "power naturally and necessarily follows property."

Now, "power" is nothing more than "the ability for doing." Without property, we have no power, and without power over ourselves, we can not "do" anything within a social context on our own behalf, only at the behest of others who have power over us. This is the definition of slavery, a condition of being without rights, i.e., power to do or not do a particular act or acts in relation to others.

When we have power over our own lives, we naturally and necessarily look to see that our relationships with others and with society as a whole operate to the maximum benefit of everyone. It may be more to our individual liking and preference to drive our personal automobile around, but it may not be the best thing for other individuals and for society as a whole. If we are connected with others and society as a whole through direct and widespread ownership of the means of production, our social conscience will be raised naturally; if the majority of people in this country continue to own no significant stake in the productive capacity of the nation, individuals will continue to think only of themselves.

Once people begin taking the needs of others and of society as a whole into consideration, they will see the benefits of using public transportation in preference to personal automobiles, and begin demanding it - or organizing, founding transportation companies on their own, and owning and running them as private enterprises, broadly owned by the people who use them. People will use public transportation not because someone has passed a law forcing them to do so, but because it is to their personal advantage to do so - and they know it.

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