RegT on said:
.........What if I have a neighbor that trashes his yard so badly it smells and draws flies and roaches? What if he keeps blue-tick hounds which howl all night long, or – G-d forbid, beagles? What if he burns trash and the smoke blows right across my backyard where my family and I are trying to enjoy some BBQ on the deck or patio? What if the creek runs through both our properties, and he dumps used motor oil and dead livestock into it?
How do we handle stuff like that? No, I don’t want a bunch of laws, code enforcement, CC&R’s and such. Part of me says the answer is to ask him nicely not to, and then cap his ass if he continues anyway, but I know that isn’t realistic either. Have you thought about this and come up with any ideas? I really don’t want to shoot his dogs or even his nasty ass, but if I can’t afford to move, what do I do?
As Jefferson said, “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.” My rights include not being poisoned by this cretin, nor driven insane by his barking dogs, nor having to smell his burning trash with every mouthful of shredded pork. How do I protect my rights?
I have thought a lot about those things. There are no easy answers. I have to go back to my Grandpa’s generation and how they handled these problems. Grandpa was born in 1890, before all these codes and HOA’s. Grandpa taught my Dad about personal responsibility, and Dad taught me. A large part of what I was taught was that I don’t have a right to harm someone else unless he is harming me. I was 6 or 7, mid to late 60′s, Grandpa had a neighbor that raised Red Bone coon hounds. The guy had one dog, his main stud, that liked to chase cows. Grandpa went over and warned him he would kill the dog if he didn’t get it under control. It happened a second time, Grandpa went back and told him it was his last warning. About a week later I’m standing in Grandpa’s front yard when I hear his 3030 in the back yard. Grandpa got the dead dog and throw him over the fence back on the guys property. The guy came by and talked to Grandpa and he was not happy. Grandpa told him that he meant what he said, he should have never doubted him. The guy complained to a couple of the neighbors about it and I guess made some threats against Grandpa, all the neighbors stood with Grandpa. The guy ended up coming back and apologizing to Grandpa. This day and age I would be surprised to see that happen.
I seriously doubt Grandpa could get away with that today. But there is a huge difference between his generation and ours. When they had a problem it wasn’t the states problem, the counties problem, or the cities, it was theirs and they had to deal with it. They didn’t depend on law enforcement back then like we do today, they depended on themselves and each other. Grandpa knew all of his neighbors and visited them regularly, my neighbors run inside when I walk down the street, they don’t want to know me or talk to me.
Our society has changed drastically since I was a kid and not for the better. I grew up in a mountain farming community where everybody knew everybody. To a certain extent we all depended on each other. We did barn raising, put up hay together, helped each other out when it was needed. That sense of community has been lost for the most part in our society today. It is every man for himself, it is very selfish. I think that is a lot of the reason why our country is going down the tubes. I think we could get rid of some of this code today, but due to the condition of our society we would not be able to get rid of all codes and let the people self govern as we are supposed to. If they did you and I would be forced to cap some idiot because he just didn’t know when to stop and correct his actions. You will do me no harm.
If you know your neighbors and they are reasonable and responsible people most problems can be resolved peacefully. Of course even in Grandpa’s day not all disputes were settled peacefully, I grew up in the same neck of the woods as the Hatfields and McCoys. Blood feuds were not that uncommon in that part of the country. And most started over next to nothing. Some people are just hell bent on fighting and where I grew up you either put with them or did something about it.
Bottom line, I would love to see our country get back to that place where we had a measure of respect for each other. The community I grew up in was very good at self governance but everybody had a respect for the other man. Today we do not have that, I hope and pray that it is not lost for all time and without it I think it is very hard to be self governing. We need a spiritual reformation as well as governmental and financial. Until we do I am afraid we will have to live with some code enforcement.
I know its not a great answer and it is not the answer I want to give. I hope I have given you food for thought.
CDP
Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteI'm over sixty, and I've lived both ways. In a ranching community in Northern California, I had great neighbors (1/2 mile and 1 1/2 miles away) and we all watched out for each other and settled what few disputes we had like gentleman. With consideration and respect.
As you say, there is little of that today. In Southern Oregon I had a young couple move onto five acres next to my eleven. The young wife got in a hurry one morning and lost control of her car, taking out fifty feet of my fence. I told her not to bother with insurance or an accident report, just to repair it and we'd call it good. Next thing I know, she claims the fence is actually on her land, and said she wouldn't fix it. Once I corrected her on whose land it was on, her husband reluctantly fixed it, after a period of several weeks.
Next thing I know, they bring three dogs on their property and proceed to pen them up about 150 feet from my house. One of the three would be barking 24/7. I slept days and worked nights, and asked them nicely three or four times to please keep the dogs quiet. All I got was a smirky "FO".
I seriously considered the remedy I mentioned in my prior post, as I couldn't bring myself to shoot dogs barking from neglect and boredom. Ended up taking them to court (I hated that), and the judge ordered them to use bark collars. They didn't bother replacing dead batteries, so that worked for a month or so, and it was back to the barking. We placed our home on the market, and fortunately had a buyer just before the market went to sh*t.
The young couple (late twenties) was a perfect example of the inconsiderate, rude, "it's all about me" generation which seems to be the norm these days. No respect for others, no willingness to work together to make things better, just glued to the TV and their cell phones. One of the times we tried the polite, "pretty please" approach, my wife went to their house (I was trying to sleep in spite of the barking), and she said it was trashed inside, looked like an indoor yard sale or salvage shop.
Our county was trying mediation around that time as an alternative to small claims court, and I tried it on an issue with another neighbor (older guy. The young couple wouldn't go for it.) It worked pretty well in that instance. Maybe that is a possibility that could be explored more fully.
I remember the great Col. Jeff Cooper writing "There aren't many things a man can't fix with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six. I have never applied that solution myself.
Delete"There aren't many things a man can't fix with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six. I have never applied that solution myself.
DeleteHeh!:)
We placed our home on the market, and fortunately had a buyer just before the market went to sh*t.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was fortunate and a blessing in disguise! What year was that?
The biggest problem we have is that nobody's afraid of getting punched in the mouth any more.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, problems like that barking dog would have been solved with a knuckle-sandwich, and the law would likely not have gotten involved.
My father was a preacher, and would whip me if I raised my hand to another kid even in self-defense, but there were some lines men had better not cross!
We were eating lunch after church in a local "family restaurant." A couple of young men at the next table kept cursing. Dad - polite and friendly as usual - asked as nicely as possible "I'd really appreciate it if you'd please stop cursing in front of my wife and children."
"Yeah? Well F*** you, AND your wife and kids!"
Dad just stood up, walked over to the guy with his preachers phony big, wide friendly smile and said "I believe with all my heart that G-d wants me to live at peace with all men - but (raised his fist - about the size of a christmas ham) if you curse one more time I promise you that I'll knock every single one of your teeth down your throat."
They got quiet and stayed that way.
In a similar situation I saw him smile and tell another young (~20'S) punk who asked "Or WHAT?" - "Or, I'll take off my belt, take down your pants, put you across my knee and give you the bare-assed whippin' your Daddy obviously never did!." He too decided he didn't want to know if the old man meant it or not!
Today, nobody dares say anything to the foulest punk - and he goes on offending everyone because nobody's man enough to tell him to stop.
More than anything else, we NEED to bring back the "knuckle sandwich!"!!
and Duels! Problems 99.99% solved.
ReplyDelete