reohn2 wrote:The car is also one of,if not the most,revenue raisers(is that a real word?) its also been the cause of smooth tarmaced roads,so lets first count our blessings.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a campaign by cyclists (perhaps one of the first of the CTC) that successfully lobbied government for tarmac'd roads?
It seems to me what we've done,instead of the car working for us,we work for it and become enslaved by it.Its a tool to be used for a job,the problem is its become the be all and end all,sex symbol,status symbol,battering ram,you name it.
We've willingly gone down this road to the exclusion of ther more sensible options,because of what was promised by it,now we're in danger of killing the golden goose.
We are a stupid,stupid species whilst at the same time being the cleverest,though not the wisest species on the planet.
So I'm agreeing with you.
Up thread indiscriminate car use has been mentioned,I agree with that sentiment but if we think everyone will suddenly begin to cycle journeys less than say three miles it ain't going to happen.
The answer is Public transport run as a service,but the government will loose revenue if that's implemented.
That then leaves the only other option,necessity becoming the mother of invention,indiscriminate car use will only stop when people can't afford to jump in the car indiscriminately,because it'll cost too much,with the best will in the world it's all down to economics.
The day fast approaches
Yup, totally agree.
Interesting point about necessity. Invention is a beautiful thing, whether it's a new mechanical device or a new way of doing stuff. Those who are car-less certainly have to be more creative in how they arrange their lives. More resourceful.
But then there is another layer to this creativity which can come about from constantly re-evaluating an activity. Some of us experience it in our cycling activities; eg, finding ways of making it more efficient.
The car driven culture doesn't bring out this creative approach in most people because everything is laid out for you. All you have to do get a result is get in the box and drive. So millions do so, resulting in this homogenous behaviour, giving rise to traffic jams, pollution and the rest.
And you can see it in our politics and gov'ments approach to dealing with the thorny transport issue. Nobody really wants to take any risks, so we get stalemate politics. You can see that with the global economic problems and climate change policy but it shows in transport too.
How many times have we said/read on here that if the gov'ment would only spend a fraction of what they spend on the big projects (HS2, 2x aircraft carriers, Trident.....) on some serious cycling infrastructure, we could all reap the benefits, cyclists and non cyclists alike.
That takes courage and conviction and it takes creativity and vision (thinking outside the box). So it would seem that mother neccesity will only come around and bear us the gift of invention once we are really struggling.
Peak oil would see to that, but I worry that the big interests of tar sands, shale gas and nuclear would be determind that we should all carry on being drip feed the diet that has made western society what it is today.