Them: But that's not a good thing! I need a car to survive!
Me: Yeah, and who made the world that way? Why is a $40k, 3000 lb steel and plastic semi-autonomous behemoth the only practical method for transportation and getting necessities like groceries? Who made that decision?
Them: But I need my car/truck/SUV because MY FREEDOM
Me: What about my freedom to be able to get around and simply exist without being required to own, maintain, and insure an automobile? Freedom means MORE choices, not fewer.
When you start thinking about all the socio-economic implications of say, car-bound suburbia, that "freedom" takes on a different tone altogether. It's the freedom to live in a bubble and to avoid everyone and everything that makes them uncomfortable. Which, okay; fair. Except that it usually means some form of bigotry, be it class, race, or whatever.
Them: We can't bulld trains! That would be so expensive!
Me: Please remind me again how much of our tax dollars we spend as a country on cleaning, repairing, repaving, and improving existing roadways? Remind me again how many people die on roadways every year? What about the healthcare cost of exhaust, dust, and other pollution from cars? Time lost in traffic? What's the economic impact of all of that?
@malcircuit@purinkle People say “give me convenience or give me death” — as if they were mutually exclusive options — but death is a price people are willing to pay for convenience.
@malcircuit This is how Hong Kong and Singapore controlled the number of cars: make buying them and make buying fuel for them as expensive as possible. Despite this, still enough cars to make privately owned tunnel between Central and Kowloon financially viable.
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