3 ms·

The upsides of automobiles, or personal mobility in general, are enormous. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want along with other people and cargo. I don't

by nradov 7mo ago

The upsides of automobiles, or personal mobility in general, are enormous. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want along with other people and cargo. I don't have to wait for a schedule set by someone else, or worry about union strikes. I love my cars!

cgannett 7mo ago
You can go wherever you want whenever you want... until everyone does this and now you are stalled in traffic with no end in sight.
jasonmp85 7mo ago
[dead]
kraquepype 7mo ago
Those are all enormous benefits to you and you alone. The greatest thing about cars are the things they do for you. In order for someone else to have those benefits, they also need a car. If as a society, if we could feel the same way about public transit, bike lanes, sidewalks, that you do about your own personal vehicle - we'd be better off.
- nradov 7mo ago
  [flagged]
  - kraquepype 7mo ago
    [flagged]
- archagon 7mo ago
  It's the toxic American hyper-individualist mindset. As an American, I hate it so much.
  - BirAdam 7mo ago
    Hyper-individualism goes a long way in eroding racism and sexism though, urging people to view others as individuals rather than members of some larger group. I’d rather hyper-individualism than hyper-collectivism. Once you consider someone first as a member of some other group, the marginalization and then erasure of that other becomes easier.
  - s5300 7mo ago
    [dead]
code_for_monkey 7mo ago
[flagged]
- nradov 7mo ago
  [flagged]
  - code_for_monkey 7mo ago
    [flagged]
  - shimman 7mo ago
    Yes! Only certain people are allowed to practice their first amendment rights. Separate but equal is a great way to run society!
- VirusNewbie 7mo ago
  [flagged]
  - archagon 7mo ago
    No, they're a "fuck the C-suite, we're the ones who actually run this joint."
  - lovich 7mo ago
    You could always join the union at a unionized shop. It’s not like they’re the doctors guild that purposefully restricts the number of new doctors per year.
    - VirusNewbie 7mo ago
      Unions protect existing members at the expense of people breaking in. You can look at teacher's unions to see how this plays out. Older tenured teachers cannot be fired, new teachers have to fight for the few open positions for a fraction of the pay, and are allowed to be laid off. This is not unique to the teacher's union.
MrJohz 7mo ago
This is true, although I have to say as someone who doesn't own a car, good public transport can avoid most of those issues. I live in a small-ish city (500K - 1M pop, depending on how you count it), and I can get pretty much anywhere I need to without worrying about schedules and certainly without worrying about strikes. The biggest issue is getting out of the city - that's when it's usually more important to worry about schedules, but it's still mostly doable - and occasionally transporting furniture or something like that. On the other hand, the benefits I get from that public transport are incredible - it's cheap, it's always there, it requires minimal logistics in groups (no trying to figure out who goes in what car and needs to be dropped off where at what time), it works regardless of my level of inebriation (admittedly I've not pushed that one to any sort of extreme yet), it's safe enough for children to travel independently (no dropping them off and picking them up), and it's largely accessible for people with difficulties walking or moving about. I think a big part of the issue is that people have tried out poor public transport infrastructure and recognised - often correctly - that their car is way better for them. But good public infrastructure can often be far more convenient than cars, it just requires people to be motivated enough to build and finance it. A neighbour of mine didn't notice his car had been towed for a week because he used public transport so much and so rarely touched his car. When he'd parked his car it was fine, but then they needed to block of the street to do some work somewhere, and he didn't notice they'd confiscated all the cars there. That's the sort of effect that good public transport can have - so comfortable that you can forget you even have a car.

by nradov 7mo ago

cgannett 7mo ago

You can go wherever you want whenever you want... until everyone does this and now you are stalled in traffic with no end in sight.

jasonmp85 7mo ago

[dead]

kraquepype 7mo ago

Those are all enormous benefits to you and you alone. The greatest thing about cars are the things they do for you. In order for someone else to have those benefits, they also need a car. If as a society, if we could feel the same way about public transit, bike lanes, sidewalks, that you do about your own personal vehicle - we'd be better off.

nradov 7mo ago
[flagged]
- kraquepype 7mo ago
  [flagged]
archagon 7mo ago
It's the toxic American hyper-individualist mindset. As an American, I hate it so much.
- BirAdam 7mo ago
  Hyper-individualism goes a long way in eroding racism and sexism though, urging people to view others as individuals rather than members of some larger group. I’d rather hyper-individualism than hyper-collectivism. Once you consider someone first as a member of some other group, the marginalization and then erasure of that other becomes easier.
- s5300 7mo ago
  [dead]

code_for_monkey 7mo ago

[flagged]

nradov 7mo ago
[flagged]
- code_for_monkey 7mo ago
  [flagged]
- shimman 7mo ago
  Yes! Only certain people are allowed to practice their first amendment rights. Separate but equal is a great way to run society!
VirusNewbie 7mo ago
[flagged]
- archagon 7mo ago
  No, they're a "fuck the C-suite, we're the ones who actually run this joint."
- lovich 7mo ago
  You could always join the union at a unionized shop. It’s not like they’re the doctors guild that purposefully restricts the number of new doctors per year.
  - VirusNewbie 7mo ago
    Unions protect existing members at the expense of people breaking in. You can look at teacher's unions to see how this plays out. Older tenured teachers cannot be fired, new teachers have to fight for the few open positions for a fraction of the pay, and are allowed to be laid off. This is not unique to the teacher's union.

MrJohz 7mo ago

This is true, although I have to say as someone who doesn't own a car, good public transport can avoid most of those issues. I live in a small-ish city (500K - 1M pop, depending on how you count it), and I can get pretty much anywhere I need to without worrying about schedules and certainly without worrying about strikes. The biggest issue is getting out of the city - that's when it's usually more important to worry about schedules, but it's still mostly doable - and occasionally transporting furniture or something like that. On the other hand, the benefits I get from that public transport are incredible - it's cheap, it's always there, it requires minimal logistics in groups (no trying to figure out who goes in what car and needs to be dropped off where at what time), it works regardless of my level of inebriation (admittedly I've not pushed that one to any sort of extreme yet), it's safe enough for children to travel independently (no dropping them off and picking them up), and it's largely accessible for people with difficulties walking or moving about. I think a big part of the issue is that people have tried out poor public transport infrastructure and recognised - often correctly - that their car is way better for them. But good public infrastructure can often be far more convenient than cars, it just requires people to be motivated enough to build and finance it. A neighbour of mine didn't notice his car had been towed for a week because he used public transport so much and so rarely touched his car. When he'd parked his car it was fine, but then they needed to block of the street to do some work somewhere, and he didn't notice they'd confiscated all the cars there. That's the sort of effect that good public transport can have - so comfortable that you can forget you even have a car.