3 ms·

As a general rule, one should question their beliefs if their beliefs require some type of derogatory state of mind about some other, disagreeable group. For i

As a general rule, one should question their beliefs if their beliefs require some type of derogatory state of mind about some other, disagreeable group. For instance, what is more likely: people drive large cars en masse because they have fragile egos, or large cars are solving some problem they have, namely they have a lot of stuff to carry around? As a personal anecdote: after the first kid, I had to ditch my tiny car for something that would accommodate all the stuff that comes with a kid. Now that we have a second on the way, I realize the small SUV we got is too small.

goosedragons 3y ago
C. It's necessary to drive a car because of poor societal choices made over the past 100 years. When you were a kid, how big was your parents' cars?
- 4death4 3y ago
  Whether or not large cars are a modern, mostly unnecessary, luxury is a separate question from the assertion made by OP, which is that large car usage is primarily driven by feelings of personal insecurity. My point is that you can never hope to solve a problem if you don’t even understand the fundamental circumstances that caused the problem to arise. Of course, not every person can know every thing, but it’s a good signal that you might be operating under false pretenses if your argument requires people to act in some derogatory way.
  - DamonHD 3y ago
    Most of the words that I used such as large and dangerous are borne out by published official stats. And nothing so dramatically changed about the geometry or demographics of (say) the US or UK as to require massive rapid inflation in car volumne and mass. I have a whole separate gripe about people expecting more and more public land for free (a single parking space is worth ~£50k around me and should be rented out for ~£3k/year at market rates), and over two stories could accommodate one person. My house is being bulldozed soon in part because there was no other way to get people to allow increased residential density and stop using three parking spaces per household on average. In an place where my familiy doesn't even need one. Car advertising seems to be entirely about ego and fantasy, the little that I see. And SUVs etc are far more profitable for them, this again is unemotionally clear. The fact that they are prepared to kill more pedestrians, damage the planet, and be complicit in the theft of public space, all for a quick buck, is the reason for my bile.
- vondur 3y ago
  My dad had a huge old Country Squire station wagon. Fake wood paneling all over it. There were 4 kids in the family.
- vel0city 3y ago
  Seven inches longer than my current car. They had three kids though, I only have two.
DamonHD 3y ago
I have two children, now teens, and have never needed to own a car of any size.

goosedragons 3y ago

C. It's necessary to drive a car because of poor societal choices made over the past 100 years. When you were a kid, how big was your parents' cars?

4death4 3y ago
Whether or not large cars are a modern, mostly unnecessary, luxury is a separate question from the assertion made by OP, which is that large car usage is primarily driven by feelings of personal insecurity. My point is that you can never hope to solve a problem if you don’t even understand the fundamental circumstances that caused the problem to arise. Of course, not every person can know every thing, but it’s a good signal that you might be operating under false pretenses if your argument requires people to act in some derogatory way.
- DamonHD 3y ago
  Most of the words that I used such as large and dangerous are borne out by published official stats. And nothing so dramatically changed about the geometry or demographics of (say) the US or UK as to require massive rapid inflation in car volumne and mass. I have a whole separate gripe about people expecting more and more public land for free (a single parking space is worth ~£50k around me and should be rented out for ~£3k/year at market rates), and over two stories could accommodate one person. My house is being bulldozed soon in part because there was no other way to get people to allow increased residential density and stop using three parking spaces per household on average. In an place where my familiy doesn't even need one. Car advertising seems to be entirely about ego and fantasy, the little that I see. And SUVs etc are far more profitable for them, this again is unemotionally clear. The fact that they are prepared to kill more pedestrians, damage the planet, and be complicit in the theft of public space, all for a quick buck, is the reason for my bile.
vondur 3y ago
My dad had a huge old Country Squire station wagon. Fake wood paneling all over it. There were 4 kids in the family.
vel0city 3y ago
Seven inches longer than my current car. They had three kids though, I only have two.

DamonHD 3y ago

I have two children, now teens, and have never needed to own a car of any size.