Question Everything.

We grow up with a set of specified rules. We're told what to do, how to behave, and who to listen to. We're supposed to bow to authority, whether they are kindergarten teachers, law-enforcement agents, or politicians who tell us what to believe and how to serve the nation, and we internalize this. Extremely simplified, the idea is that authority is not just external, but that people are conditioned by the markers of hegemony and continue to reproduce it from within; for example, we automatically become alert when approached by police officers, even if we have done nothing wrong. Authority is everywhere, and people don't even question it. People are likely to believe anyone with a badge or a uniform without asking further questions. Why? We are trained to believe that uniforms are a marker of authenticity and authority, and that we must defer to authority. When institution building is so strong, the visual and symbolic markers of those institutions become ingrained in our consciousness. A documentary on British TV showed set up situations in which uniformed "officers" intercepted people near customs checkpoints or on highways, asking for documents, fines, and seizure of cargo. In almost all cases, people were all too willing to provide whatever they were asked for, blindly trusting that the uniformed men were genuine law-enforcers. It was kind of shocking, and made me think about how I react to things like that too. My undergraduate institution really pushed the idea of questioning everything that we take for granted in society, and I feel that this is the cornerstone of liberty and human rights. Question everything. It's not a crime.

Luckily for me I'm a little wary of badges and uniforms, and this served me well last week. We boarded a train from Belgrade to Budapest - a 9 hour journey. 2 hours out of Belgrade, a guy came to our cabin, saying he was "Passport control." He wore a police badge around his neck, but had no uniform on. I was immediately slightly suspicious, since the previous border officers at the Serbia/Croatia border had been uniformed. Plus, we were nowhere near the border. We were told that we needed to pay a 300 Euro fine for not registering with the Serbian police within 24 hours of arrival, even though we had only overstayed this period by about 6 hours. In perfect English they explained that they would accompany us to the border, take us to court there, and fine us 300 EU. I was even more suspicious, since during my research and trip planning I'd heard of no such rule. While they walked around and checked other people's documents, P and I discussed whether they were fake, or actual, bribe chasing police. Eventually they told us that we could pay them a 50 Euro fee, and they would write up a form saying we lost our police permission. Since it was highly unlikely that they'd travel 4 more hours to the border to take us to court, I figured they were probably scamming us, or just wanted a bribe. They took me to a separate cabin to discuss fines. I really wanted to ask for proper identification, but not being in my country of citizenship or knowing who these guys were, I just kept insisting that we had no cash, and eventually they left us alone. Later on we double checked and it turned out that registration is required only after 3 months. I felt bad for the two other British guys we saw fork over the "reduced fine." So, don't always assume that a uniform/badge is fo realz.

Watch out for my next post on how to assert your rights with the REAL po-po!