Pubdate: Sun, 7 Oct 2007
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: D-3
Column: Rick Steves' Europe
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Rick Steves

CREATIVE THINKING

Continental Flair to Dealing With Drugs, Crime, Traffic

I once spent a cold January in Japan. I was in Kyoto, sleeping in a 
ryokan. As is often the case in these traditional inns, there was no 
central heating. It was so cold I could see my breath - inside my 
room. It was dark and the middle of the night. And, of course, I 
needed to go down the hall to the toilet.

I put on the loaner kimono. The size was a lady's medium, comically 
tight. I put on my hallway slippers, heels hanging over the edge and 
shuffled quietly down the hall past balsawood-like walls on creaky 
floorboards. At the bathroom, I slipped out of my hallway slippers 
and into the awaiting bathroom slippers. They were just as small.

Dreading the frigid toilet seat, I jockeyed my body into position. 
Feeling entirely exposed to the cold, I gingerly sat down. Thankfully 
the seat was heated. "I love traveling in Japan," I thought.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the wonders of exploring and 
experiencing other cultures - from heated toilet seats to heated 
discussions about foie gras (illegal in some parts of the United 
States, but a chief reason tourists flock to the Dordogne region of 
France). We Americans have plenty to be proud about, but we need to 
remember the risk of finding too many truths to be "self-evident and 
God-given." Because when you travel, you learn that other people find 
their own solutions to challenges that confront us all. On my recent 
trip, my Swiss, British and Dutch friends impressed me with some 
creative thinking.

The Swiss government deals with its social problems with pragmatism 
and innovation. Do you have too many cars clogging up downtown or too 
many hard-to-employ people struggling to get by on welfare? In 
Switzerland, big cities provide free loaner bikes to those who leave 
their cars at home. People who would otherwise be collecting 
unemployment benefits run the bike system.

Like the United States, Switzerland is dealing with a persistent drug 
abuse problem. The Swiss believe the purpose of a nation's drug 
policy should be to reduce the harm that drugs cause their society. 
Like many Europeans, they treat substance abuse more as a health 
issue than as a crime. Rather than fill their jails, the Swiss employ 
more compassionate and pragmatic methods.

To help fight the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, 
street-side vending machines cheaply dispense government-subsidized 
syringes. The government even tries to control where junkies shoot 
up. To keep them out of public restrooms, the interiors are lit with 
blue light. Why? Because if junkies can't see their veins, they'll 
shoot up elsewhere. The government hopes they'll use 
heroin-maintenance clinics, which provide counseling, clean needles, 
and a safe alternative to shooting up on the streets.

In Switzerland, the casual use of marijuana is tolerated. In Bern, 
locals pass joints with no worries in the shadow of the cathedral, 
ignored by passers-by. It seems the Swiss simply enjoy life in a 
country that believes tolerating alternative lifestyles makes more 
sense than building more prisons.

London has some clever fixes, too. It's long wrestled with traffic 
congestion. Recently they've instituted a "congestion fee," charging 
anyone who doesn't work or live downtown about $16 to drive into the 
city center. The money raised subsidizes public transit. On your next 
visit you may experience the intended result: cheaper bus tickets, 
more buses, and less car traffic - enabling buses and taxis to get 
around quicker. Anyone who still wants to drive downtown can - by 
paying the congestion fee.

In the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal, prostitutes pay 
taxes, get regular medical checkups and even have a union. When a 
prostitute pushes her help button, it's the police - not an abusive 
pimp - who come to her aid. The pragmatic Dutch know that 
prostitution will happen no matter what, so they might as well make 
it as crime- and disease-free as possible.

While the Dutch may choose to pay for sex, they may also choose not 
to get junk mail. They have a simple solution: mailbox stickers. If 
they want to receive mail addressed only to "resident," they post a 
"Ja" decal, meaning "yes." If they don't want unsolicited fliers, 
ads, and credit-card offers, they post a "Nee" sticker, for "no." 
That's a sticker I could use.

One of the many benefits of travel is the eye-opening realization 
that there can be logical, civil and even better alternatives to 
dealing with life's challenges - from junkies to junk mail.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake