> Edit: Many of the subsidies the car-only lifestyle gets are really negative externalities the burden of which is shared by everyone: the public health nightma

> Edit: Many of the subsidies the car-only lifestyle gets are really negative externalities the burden of which is shared by everyone: the public health nightmare of obesity, pollution in the form of smog and runoff, political downsides of dependence on oil. How could those be dealt with in a way that doesn't feel to you like an unjust sin tax or someone forcing their way of life on you? I don't want subsidies. I don't want any of them. Get rid of them. Car subsidies are just as much an imposition as sin taxes are. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Automobiles, and in general, industrialization, come with a cost. Externalities (positive or negative) that are a result of hundreds of millions of people acting cannot be eliminated without coercion. And of course, coercion introduces its own form of externality. There's no such thing as a free lunch. I'd rather we all plead our case to persuade others than shove it down everyone else's throats. "Oh but that would be great if only people weren't idiots..." And around in circles we go.