In America they’re debating on whether or not laws should be made to crack down on wearing baggy pants (no pun intended). I’m not joking – in twelve states, ordinances have been passed requiring people to pull up their pants or face fines or jail time.
It’s an issue of respect. It’s an issue of decency. It’s an issue of pants…
Hang on… an issue of pants?
Parents say there’s a correlation between saggy pants, rebellion and bad behaviour – but does that mean there should be laws banning low slung dacks?
In 1956 a performer was banned from dancing during a concert because he was considered a bad influence on young people and his pants – they were too tight. That performer was Elvis Presley;
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In August 1956, a Florida judge called Presley a “savage” and threatened to arrest him if he shook his body while performing in Jacksonville (Wiki – Controversial King)
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People turning their own beliefs into moral panic and working to generate laws to enforce their ideals will always be one way to make society change – but it rarely comes without a cost.
By banning Elvis they cemented him as an icon for disobedience and made him a superstar. By enforcing the new rules on pants, the police will need to start punish young people leading to a resentment of authority, making the law system seem superficial and maybe even send undeserving people to jail.
There is a huge difference between converting people, campaigning about issues and showing the community a better way – and creating laws to do try and do the same thing. Enforcing news laws allows you to effect people, but the affect on them will not be a positive one. Punishing people will make them your enemy not your friend.
Compulsory pet sterilisation seems like a good idea; everyone in rescue knows what a giant problem unplanned litters are. But by creating and enforcing new laws we create a giant chasm between them (the public) and us (animal welfare).
We need friends. We need to affect people in a good way. We need to make it easy/fashionable/customary to desex pets and create a society that frowns on people who get into BYBing. But we do none of those things by singling out individuals and punishing them.
No matter how much we hate baggy pants.
