fences.

To me, a fence is a hostile piece of architecture.

Made to keep me out, but also made to keep someone in.

Why cant i go there. Why cant they come out.

Often a fence is more like a suggestion.

A local cemetary has a waist high fence all the way around it. If we assume that it is not to keep the dead people from getting out, then this fence seems like a futile attempt at keeping me from pissing on these graves. I refuse to respect the dead. How are these dead people still taking up space?

This 1 meter tall fence is a futile and worthless attempt of keeping me out. These fences are often a matter of “how determined are you”.

On May 28th in 2016, we got a great example of this.

A baby jumped into the cage with Harambe. That kid was determined. He wanted to have a closer look of the gorillas. A mere fence was not stopping him. Perhaps the zoo was so focused on keeping the gorillas in, they forgot that babies need to be kept out. They focused on 50% of the purpose. Imagine if apollo11 landed on the moon, only for NASA to realise they forgot to think of how they would get back. This is fencing 101. You have to remember both sides of the fence.

And for this fencing mistake the Harambe had to die.

Fences come in many shapes.

They can be pointy or round.

They can be life saving or aesthetic.

They can be made of metal or wood.

Some fences are disguised as a bush.

Think of all the fences we see in our daily lives.

Just standing there. Doing basically nothing. They are just standing there suggesting.

Think of all the fences that guard a completely empty lawn with 7cm tall grass straws.

DONT WALK ON THIS GRASS.

Might be a sign on the fence.

You dont need to tell me. The fence already tells me this. This is the very purpose of the fence. The sign is superfluous. You’re really going above and beyond.

And all this, for what?

Your empty, BORING, CAPITALIST TRIMMED GRASS???

No thanks.

Construction site fences really mean business.

These fences are ugly as hell, and tall. Pure utility. No silly games here.

These fences often also have signs, but i feel like they make more sense. These fences are suggesting i dont go in a more aggressive manner than a small wooden fence.

Sometimes there are fences on near ledges that could lead to certain death.

These fences i can appreciate.

However, i often feel like these fences are where we cut the budget the most.

Why?

I mean i’ve seen a rope tied to two large rocks near such a life threatening cliffside.

Thats arguably not even a fence

I feel like a deadly cliff deserves a sturdy fence. Alas, it seems we value keeping people from stepping on short grass more than we value human life.

In the book “two cheers for anarchism”, the author James Scott explains how the masses can deploy weapons of the weak to enable changes on a bigger scale. He brings up how a soldier who opposes war could become a deserter, as his only way of protesting the war. The effects of one deserter is next to none, and involves the soldier breaking the rules, and perhaps even risking great personal punishment. However, this is an example of a weapon of the weak. For if enough people secretly brake the rules, they will eventually have to be changed, or further monitored.

Keep jumping those fences ;)