cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/30007963
Arguing for the car as a good method of transportation is like arguing that having personal diesel generator to power you home is a good idea
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/30007963
Arguing for the car as a good method of transportation is like arguing that having personal diesel generator to power you home is a good idea
No one would argue to just destroy all cars, but a lot of the daily transportation is just people going to work or to the store or to the cinema or to see friends/family etc. and these car trips can be replaced with proper public transportation.
Or by having amenities within walking distance.
I’m not arguing against public transportation, I’m saying that making a comparison between owning a car and using diesel to power your home is daft, considering that there are multiple cases where people use fuel oil to power their homes, and there’s a lot of use cases for both (especially if you look outside the first world countries or outside of the internet bubble)
The point is exactly that, there are people using diesel generators, but the technology doesn’t scale that’s why we have electricity grids. The same way public transportation scales much better than cars.
Or as the comments in the main post discussed, one is individualistic approach while the other is collectivist.
What do you mean the point is exactly that?
The technology does scale, not only are there national sized diesel generators that power the grid, there are diesel generators that run on the gas that landfill and farming make (That would normally escape into air as raw methane.)
In your original post you’re suggesting that that a car is a poor choice of transport the same way a diesel generator is a poor source of power for a home.
It ignores the point that there are specific use cases for both diesel generators and personal vehicles e.g. where there are no alternatives in rural areas or areas where the infrastructure is limited - mountainous regions, out in the bush in Aus, the scottish Highlands, the Swedish archipelagos and almost everything north of the arctic circle require both a reliable source of electricity and a personal vehicle.
My personal argument against this kind of thinking, even as someone living in a developed country, was that almost every blue collar worker requires a vehicle to work, which cannot be replaced by public transport, given the nature of them travelling between jobsites and the requirements for carrying cargo and tools.
I’ll agree, when living within a city that has full infrastructure, easy access to amenities and everyone who works in the city lives in the city this makes compete sense as an argument, why put a diesel generator in when you’ve got power hard wired into your house, but scale your point of view past America, and you’ll see it’s less black and white.