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Automobiles are quite possibly one of the most harmful things in societies. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, pollution, sprawl, time wasted going from A to B.
by brndnmtthws 9y ago
Automobiles are quite possibly one of the most harmful things in societies. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, pollution, sprawl, time wasted going from A to B.
My life improved dramatically when I decided to reject the automobile as a way of life.
EDIT: I am of course referring to personal automobiles.
- valuearb 9y agoSince they've invented the automobile life expectancies and living standards have increased enormously worldwide, that is a real correlation.
- CalRobert 9y agoThe same could be said for nuclear bombs or silly putty.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- valuearb 9y agoNeither nuclear bombs or silly putty enabled the mass delivery of food and goods everywhere in the country, and for people to live outside of tiny apartments in congested cities in smaller towns and rural areas offering clean air, big yards, and more access to the outdoors. The fact that Americans have substantial increased their average living space and comforts is directly correlated with the spread of automobiles. The massive increase in food production is entirely caused by automation from the invention of farming equipment running off internal combustion engines.
- CalRobert 9y agoThis is a helpful, detailed, comment. Thanks. It contributes much more to the discussion than gp.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoI don't think there's any proof that they are related. If you look at cities where automobile use is proportionally lower (London, NYC, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Copenhagen), I don't think people there would have lower life expectancies. And if they did, it's more likely due to pollution.
- FilterSweep 9y agoIts lower, but is it nonexistent? I take a cab in Shinjuku and I'm still in traffic. The parent seems to be actually talking about AUTOMOBILES in more than just the modern scope. There is a bit of a bigger paradigm shift at play here if you were to consider a world without automobiles.
- 24gttghh 9y agoI'm not buying it. Cars are good for short-term economics but not human health. No car: walk/bike to the store/work; get aerobic exercise Car: sit on your ass and pump harmful fumes and CO2 into the atmosphere and let your muscles and bones atrophy away
- zip1234 9y agoI used to work construction. I usually had to drive 15 to 45 minutes to get to a job, which could be almost anywhere. No way could I walk, bike, or take public transport. Cars are wonderful but I understand wanting to make them cleaner, more appropriately sized, and more efficient in general.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoIn NYC I see plenty of construction workers taking the subway every day.
- valuearb 9y agoNo automobiles, no food in your bodega, no deliveries from amazon. No tractors, no combines, mass starvation.
- xapata 9y agoCould there be any confounding factors in that relationship? There were a good number of vaccines invented over the last hundreds years.
- valuearb 9y agoObviously it's to the only factor, but the ICE gave us the ability to mass farm food and products and deliver them throughout an enormous country. It directly influenced where people could live, and how well they lived.
- VLM 9y agoIts the effect of the death of Feudalism. That was, I'll (because I'm of a better social class) decide where you live based on (current) socioeconomic status and historically, race, and I'll decide where you're allowed to work, shop, recreate, meet people, and obtain services such as medical care, based on how far you can walk on two feet. There's a desperate push to re-enact this, keep the peasants back on the farm and under control. Nothing could be more important than tying, say, political opinions, to the ability to obtain Uber or Peapod. Imagine the power of being able to literally starve someones family or strand them in the middle of nowhere merely for having the wrong political opinion... Nothing is more small D democratic or freedom oriented than the automobile. And many people hate democracy and freedom.
- zaroth 9y agoObviously you have to consider the pros and cons of the ICE on human history and progress beyond just listing what you believe are direct negative consequences of depending on cars in modern society.
- aianus 9y agoI'm never going back to hauling a week's worth of groceries through the snow from the bus stop. Nor cutting my weekend with my girlfriend short so I can make the last train back to my city on Sunday night. You'll have to take my car from my cold, dead, broke hands :p
- afinlayson 9y agoWhat if your food was delivered to you by instacart, and you took a Lyft home? Problem solved :p
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- aianus 9y agoNeither of them exist in my city and the trip is 300km each way :/
- FilterSweep 9y agoSomething as simple as "refrigerated food" stands in and of itself as a counter argument. Your entire diet would be different if cars werent around.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoWhat does refrigeration have to do with automobiles?
- FilterSweep 9y agoAre you going to continue to try playing devil's advocate by saying you live next a farm and don't need a refrigerated truck to drive produce to your grocery store, or are you now seeing what I'm saying here?
- random_rr 9y agoPresumably, automobiles allow people who may live farther away from a store to get perishable (frozen or refrigerated) items home in time.
- FilterSweep 9y agoRemember that perishables are coming to the store from somewhere else, as well.
- Kluny 9y agoRefrigerated transport trucks.
- CydeWeys 9y agoWhat does refrigerated food have to do with personally owned automobiles? Or are you referring to the transportation infrastructure that allows the delivery of refrigerated food to grocery stores?
- Sharlin 9y agoYou need trucks to transport refrigerated food, sure. But personal cars?
- xapata 9y agoPerhaps the individually owned automobile. I think the public bus, fire truck, ambulance, etc. are beneficial on net. You should try to be more specific. Otherwise folks will ignore the bits of truth mixed into the hyperbole.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoI was indeed referring to personal automobiles, which is what the original article is referring to.
- xapata 9y agoUnfortunately, your comment is slightly out of that context. Some folks on HN read the comments before the article.
- zip1234 9y agoMany small businesses would not be able to operate/operate profitably without automobiles.