Henrietta Dubb's Diary

Loud Music, Mediation and Local Justice

My neighbour has a quadraphonic sound system. He's obviously in love with it. But it's doubtful whether he understands the impact of his affair upon the local neighbourhood. Let me tell you why I think this.

Recently he was away from home for a few days and he left his system playing. For over 36 hours his house was the epicentre of an ongoing vibration that felt like it would register high on the Richter scale.

I discovered he was away when, having lost a restful night's sleep, I finally decided to go over and ask him to turn it down. The windows were rattling as I knocked and I could hardly hear my own knocking.

"No use!" said his neighbour, "He has gone away!"

What do you do in this situation? I began to try to think strategically. What could I do? Perhaps I could turn off his electricity? After some thought, I discounted this line of attack. He might have a fridge and we did not know how long he would be away.

Instead I rang the Estate Agent, explained the situation as best I could, and soon after the background "doof doof" vanished.

So freed from the quaking noise I could do some thinking. Suppose he had left the door open, would I have entered to turn off his system? I knew I should be hesitant, but why? What is at stake? It's not only a matter of what such an act would do to the noise, but what it would mean to the absent and thoughtless person who lived there. It's also about my relationship with that person. It's about what such an act would do to me as the person who entered. Did I have a right to enter that house? Would it not create a tension in my relationship with my neighbour?

Urban life is tolerable when we all conduct ourselves with due urban restraints. When a neighbour lacks self-restraint, or when he/she acts as if others will just have to wear the consequences of self-absorbed noise-making, then we face a hard situation arises that needs to be corrected. But how? To be effective and just, remedial action will have to somehow abide by the standard of respect that has been broken.

The Old Testament, provides us with a lot of rules about 'life together'. Those rules teach principles for just social interaction, even the interaction like the one I'm discussing, when things have to be righted, when debts are cleared, when neighbours are being confronted. Consider this example.

When you make your neighbour a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.

This command is addressed to the person 'standing outside' who has right on his/her side. The principle at work here helps us think about the process by which matters are corrected. My absent neighbour 'owes' me 'peace and quiet'. He not only 'owes' this to me; he 'owes' it to the entire neighbourhood. The music has to be turned down but he is not there to do it. Somehow a way has to be found to ensure his compliance so that his music is no longer intrusive, not only when he is away, but also after he has returned. So it was right for the Estate Agent to act as mediator, providing a lawful path by which this problem was solved.

This example shows us how much we need rules for our corrective actions in the public domain. We need to find effective ways to defend and protect the 'common good'. These days the media provides a helpful seedbed for this kind of reflection. Talk back radio, newspaper columns and letters to the editor keeps this issue alive. Our complex society needs to keep talking about how to overcome the thoughtless spoiling of our life together by such entertainment technology. The racket that regularly pulsates through suburbia from cars with 'shock and awe' exhaust systems, let alone their 'we-will-rock-you' sound systems, provide other instances where noise is deeply troubling. Often those who enjoy making this kind of noise are quite aware of the irritation felt by their neighbours. That, I suggest, is reason enough to find just ways to confront this community injustice. Wise ways need to be found to mediate and moderate. But laws should also control the way sound systems and other noise making technologies are constructed and used. Otherwise, the entire social domain becomes unworkable, unliveable. Mobile phones in public places are another example.

Local councils have ordinances and Estate Agents draw up contracts which spell out to the responsibilities of tenants to their neighbours. For effective community policing, police officers need to be able to rely upon a general neighbourhood ethos that values the 'peace' and the 'common good' with good humour, without too much aggravation.

In recent years levels of public apprehension around the world have grown. Terrorism and natural disasters also bring a greater awareness about the fragile of community and domestic life. Our life together needs protection in all kinds of ways. There is a new awareness about how private action has an impact outside any immediate circle of activity.

But we need to develop a 'common good' ethos that also encourages respectful mediation particularly when the peace needs to be restored. We need to insist that any remedial action respects the contribution of each and all. My neighbour - who possibly does not sense the irritating impact of his music on his neighbourhood - does not have to change his music style or turn his music off. He might not even have to adjust the volume. In this case it was the BASS that needed to be adjusted DOWNWARDS. But to convey that simple fact can be a complex task that requires deeper insight into how public justice is basic for getting on with our ordinary lives. Not only should the makers of sound systems be placed under greater restraint, we probably all need to learn strategies of positive self-restraint for when the 'common good' is under threat and tensions rise. And music makers need to be encouraged to avoid producing Richter-scale musical irritation that simply feeds a perverse desire to frustrate and annoy. And some anarchic musical forms, no doubt, may have to be modified if not in their creation, in their subsequent performance.

When we make a stand for justice against intrusive music, we should not get sidetracked into sneering at a neighbour's preferred style of music, or violate this neighbour's personal space in retaliation. We must avoid actions that might make our neighbour feel demeaned. After all, our concern is that "over loud music" is a demeaning action, and any demeaning action demeans the perpetrator and the entire community, as well as the victim. Mediation needs to be fair. It will require us all, young and old, to learn new skills and walk a path that cares for and enhances the contributions of all our neighbours as valued members of our local community.

It is clearly not just a local community issue. It also involves 'industry standards' whether in musical performance or enhanced technologies, like speakers and headphones, that invite Richter-scale vibrating music. So let us be aware that when we suggest to our neighbour "Why don't you put on your head-phones!" we may later discover that we have suggested a path that can lead to deafness. Such advice, on its own, cannot be the complete answer for community mediation in this matter! Structural reform in all aspects is needed and to start let us pray for the wisdom and insight we need to live in urban society and find the peaceful path to preserve and extend the peace for all.

Henrietta Dubb, Christian citizen of the 21^st century.

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September 2005 © Henrietta Dubb's Diary, written and published by Bruce C Wearne, 29 Lawrence Rd., Point Lonsdale Vic 3225 AUSTRALIA, 61-3-5258-3913. Each entry in the diary may be photocopied or retransmitted in its entirety but shall not otherwise be reprinted or transmitted without the author's written permission. This project encourages positive Christian citizenship, the development of policies and political attitudes that better express our love for God and our neighbour. Comments are welcome. Email can be sent to: bcwearne@ozemail.com.au  Web-site http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bcwearne/hdd.htm