Fences seem to make some people feel secure. Property management people certainly seem to think so; so many buildings in Rogers Park are in one way or another fenced from the street. Perhaps they feel it gives the impression that chaos and entropy are kept at bay, that all of the people who live by the rules (including the people who rob others using a pen) can be reassured that here their scrupulous efforts will be rewarded as they should be.
I don’t know. It doesn’t do that for me. I see fences and it says, instead, these people are frightened. And maybe there is something to be frightened of? And if not? And how does that fear, justified or not, creep into other parts of their lives? In fencing people out, you are also fencing yourself in.
I can’t say fences have no use, should not exist. But pus is useful too, and ubiquitous fencing seems to me like an infected wound. Oh, America! Get well soon.
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