4 ms·
This is like reading an article "I Don't Drive Cars" that goes on like - They're too expensive - My buddy's 1995 Accord breaks down a lot - Walking is health
by extr 5mo ago
This is like reading an article "I Don't Drive Cars" that goes on like
- They're too expensive
- My buddy's 1995 Accord breaks down a lot
- Walking is healthier, plus you can stop and smell the roses
- I enjoy caring for my horse
- Sometimes you can get stuck in traffic
Fine if that's the way you want and can afford to live your life. But it is an exotic luxury belief. For those of us who are participating in the economy for real, the preference to not drive cars is not realistic.
- runarberg 5mo agoTbh. Those are all good reasons not to drive. I my self would add: - They dangerous both to me as a driver, my passengers, and other road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists. - They ruin cities which constantly have to accommodate ever increasing number of cars by destroying previously walkable neighborhoods to make room for roads and parking. - They destroy our climate - They are loud. - Busses are nicer and I can read a book while riding the bus.
- extr 5mo agoYou're welcome to feel that way but it's a luxury belief. In reality, outside of a few (one?) major city in the US with public transportation infrastructure, you need a car. 92% of people own a car, higher if you exclude the dense urban areas I'm talking about.
- dpatterbee 5mo agoPeople only need cars because people have cars and cars make cities worse for everyone outside of one. If nobody owned cars everyone would get by just fine. It's a race to the bottom.
- satvikpendem 5mo agoSure, but that doesn't change the fact that today people need cars. In an ideal world I'd also love a European or Asian city model but American cities are not like that.
- runarberg 5mo agoMost American cities have decent enough public transit where it is viable (or even a preferable) alternative to driving. I can think of Seattle, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. Not every city in America is like El Paso or Phoenix. But even in cities like El Paso or Phoenix, the hostility towards public transit is a political choice and an alternative policy is available if politicians want it. I my self live close to the good American cities and even though my community is rather rural (I literally live across the street from a dairy farm) I still prefer biking to town. And when I go to the city, I rarely bring my car with me, as I prefer the bus over waiting in the ferry line and dealing with parking in the city.
- runarberg 5mo agoCar ownership is lowest in the lowest income brackets, and public transit ridership is highest among the lower income brackets. I really don‘t understand how you can reach your conclusion that not driving is a luxury. Data would suggest the exact opposite. EDIT: To clarify on the public transit usage. The data is by-modal. Lower income levels are by far more likely to use road based public transit (such as busses), but high earners are more likely to live near a rail station and use rail based transit: https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/public-transit-access-and-income-segregation https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/public-transit-access-and-inc...
- rzmmm 5mo agoChecked all five except "caring for my horse" is "tinkering with my bicycle".
- nh23423fefe 5mo agoPeople write "i dont" when they mean "i cant"
- threetonesun 5mo agoYes everyone that lives in a major city that doesn't use a car is... not participating in the real economy.
- extr 5mo agoIf you do not live in one of the handful of areas in the US with public transportation infrastructure and also do not own a car you are an extreme outlier. Likewise, if you do not use AI tools to code, outside of some highly niche and specialized areas where perhaps they are still not effective, you are also an extreme outlier and are going to making significant tradeoffs to continue that practice.
- hootz 5mo agoIs this bait? What are you talking about? I just use public transport to go to work. Basically, all of those points about cars are correct, except for the last one because here you almost always get stuck in traffic during rush hours. Often buses get to a destination faster than cars because of Bus Rapid Transit. EDIT: Oh, you are talking just about the US. Then your comparison doesn't make any sense because LLMs are available worldwide.
- Aurornis 5mo agoYou're going to get picked apart by people who live within walking distance or public transport distance of their office and don't understand why everyone else uses cars. If you can walk to your office and the temperature is always between 50 and 70 degrees F you would probably think cars are crazy, too. Which, funnily enough, proves the point even further. Some people get so comfortable in their bubble that they become unable to even comprehend why other people make other choices in other situations.
- footy 5mo agoI live in Southwestern Ontario and I think cars are crazy.
- tasuki 5mo agoWhat a weird analogy. I almost always walk to the office. The temperature range is a lot bigger (freezing in winter to uncomfortably hot in summer), and it's like 3 km, which many people wouldn't dream of walking. When my work was farther I used to cycle. Most people can easily get to work without a car. Just depends on goals and motivations. Car is definitely the laziest way.
- Aurornis 5mo ago> Most people can easily get to work without a car. This is statistically very false. It does a good job of proving my point that people within this bubble have a hard time understanding what the rest of the world is like.
- tasuki 5mo agoYou're the one in a bubble. [Edit:] That wasn't very helpful of me, let me expand: I live in a city of 400,000 people. It can be crossed on foot in an hour, faster by bicycle. For people who can't or don't want to, the public transport is good. And yet there are traffic jams everywhere. I used to live in Amsterdam, which is a bigger place. I cycled around 13 km each way, which isn't entirely unusual. I stand by my point that most people can easily get to work without a car. Most are just too lazy to walk/cycle/use public transport. If you have any data showing otherwise, I'd be delighted to see!
- somewhereoutth 5mo agoBut it is not a real economy is it? Vast sums of money are being spent subsidizing token processing with little to no tangible business benefit for the end user. For those of us lucky enough to have the choice, the best bet is to sit it out for a year or so until it all comes crashing down, then re-engage with what's left of the software industry.
- nix0n 5mo agoThere are many trainfuls of people who still write code using traditional syntax-based IDE completion.
- extr 5mo agoIf they want to continue that practice that's fine but they will quickly find that it severely limits their options for participating in the software industry.
- stephenr 5mo agoIf you've all been reduced to vibe coding and hoping for the best I'd suggest that you aren't really participating in the software industry either mate.
- Gud 5mo agoWhy not? Making code is not synonymous with making software.
- stephenr 5mo agoI'm pretty sure it is actually.
- andrekandre 5mo agoagree, it really is, saying otherwise is like someone who indirectly edited an xml layout with a visual tool thinks they are writing software...
- fffrantz 5mo agoLife without a car is not an exotic luxury at all, far from it, and all your points are just proving the point. Cars are a luxury, from the amount of taxes paid towards car infrastructure to the social costs associated with “the car culture” (insurance, public health, climate change, etc.). There are countless examples of urban and rural areas where alternative modes of transportation (LRT, bus, bicycle, ferries) are the norm and where cars are barely necessary/used. Not every place in the world is Anywhere, USA…
- gverrilla 5mo ago'For those of us americans who are participating in the economy for real, the preference to not drive cars is not realistic.' Fixed that for you.