Opinions=Assholes+Love

[Salty]

Please indulge me as I engage in something I don't usually do.

I am going to share something that lies close to my permafrosted heart over here: Cars, trucks; large, petroleum powered conveyance vehicles.

Whether economical or luxury rated, whether running on fossil fuels alone or graciously coupled with elecrticity, whether steadfastly maintaining your independence or sharing with others in a pool, CARS SUCK.

They suck.

They suck:
-At your bank account (Last year, with insurance, payments, gas, etc. I paid $900 per month for s 2001 Subaru)
-Your back health (studies show)
-Your heart health (STUDIES SHOW)
-Our economic health (as it depends on the WHOLLY, DEEPLY, MULTIFASCETED UNSUSTAINABLE sale of brand new ones every quarter)
-Our political health

In my opinion the ability to accelerate is the basic premise of the benefit of a car. Or, at least, in regular jerkoffs driving them. Getting to work in 15 min instead of 45 min.

That is stupid.

The amount of time saved in a car is not magically used to the benefit of an individual person 99% of the time. We humans, and not to go all peleo on you here buuuuut, we humans MOVE. Our bodies are designed to move. our bodies demand and excel when forced to move over long distances.

When we walk our energy/distance covered ratio is stupidly efficient. When we ride a bike it makes that efficiency SUPER RETARDEDLY EFFICIENT.

The time that it takes to bike (or walk) to a place is best spent doing that. Why in the fuck would you go to a gym? Why? Why? Tell me why when walking enough is enough exercise to acquire the health benefits of exercise?

So, on an individual level, you do your brain and the rest of your body a disservice by using a car.
You also contribute to the overall poor health of you locale (those cars realllly stink when you're not around them a lot. Horrible so. Just about as bad as Marlboros.), and the shitshow that is our socio-economic-political system. You hand feed cash into the part of The Machine that will spit you back out as pure waste.

When you're talking about personal responsibility...what is it that you do with your day? What do you touch? What touches you?

Now, in the above, I have left out some counter points. I'm sure you can think of many. But IN MY OPINION the above is more important.

Just think about what would happen to our economic process if instead of the government "shutting down" every single person in America stopped driving their cars. Just stopped.

Don't talk to me about "too cold" or "too hot". Obviously we have the technology. There is an affordable, sustainable workaround that does not include the waste just one automobile produces from it's production (and the associated outlying effects) to the day it's sitting in a big rusty heap in someone's yard. It's a lot. A lot of material and time and effort that can be spent protecting yourself from the elements in a smarter fashion.

Cars are stupid. They're stupid.

There. There, PD.com. There's my HORRIBLE OPINION about cars.

Proceed to shit hate on me for the rest of my life for daring to show an alternate view that may be unfavorable.

Proceed.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Without cars, though, life in Arizona would be pretty much impossible, given our insanely inflated population.

And without trucks, 80% of the country would starve to death, which is sort of swaying my opinion, here.

[Salty]

1. Splain, please.

2. I knew I was forgetting something:

Some cars are absolutely required: Emergency service and SOME transport of goods/services.

With the resources used on cars we could develop more comprehensive rail systems which should assist with food and such.

[Salty]

Also, DOING IT WRONG.

You're presenting counter points which meet my opinion head on. You're SUPPOSED to just be shitting on me and making personal remarks about my sense of style.

Because that's what happens to unpopular opinions on PD.com. Duuuuuuh.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

1. Splain, please.

2. I knew I was forgetting something:

Some cars are absolutely required: Emergency service and SOME transport of goods/services.

With the resources used on cars we could develop more comprehensive rail systems which should assist with food and such.

1.  Due to the geography of Tucson (arroyos, washes, etc), housing is limited to specific areas.  Same thing with businesses, except businesses have DIFFERENT areas (due to runoff of chemicals, etc).  As a result, I am more or less forced to live about 30 miles from my job...And I'm hardly alone in this.  EVERYTHING in Tucson is 45 minutes away from everything.  Unless you are rich enough to live in the legal district, or so POOR that you HAVE to live in the legal district, you have to either drive or take the bus...and the further you get from the legal district, the worse the bus system is.

2.  Light rail would be PERFECT for Arizona, but it will never happen, because for some reason, the blue hairs have associated it with communism.  No, I don't understand, either.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Also, DOING IT WRONG.

You're presenting counter points which meet my opinion head on. You're SUPPOSED to just be shitting on me and making personal remarks about my sense of style.

Because that's what happens to unpopular opinions on PD.com. Duuuuuuh.

[Salty]

1. Splain, please.

2. I knew I was forgetting something:

Some cars are absolutely required: Emergency service and SOME transport of goods/services.

With the resources used on cars we could develop more comprehensive rail systems which should assist with food and such.

1.  Due to the geography of Tucson (arroyos, washes, etc), housing is limited to specific areas.  Same thing with businesses, except businesses have DIFFERENT areas (due to runoff of chemicals, etc).  As a result, I am more or less forced to live about 30 miles from my job...And I'm hardly alone in this.  EVERYTHING in Tucson is 45 minutes away from everything.  Unless you are rich enough to live in the legal district, or so POOR that you HAVE to live in the legal district, you have to either drive or take the bus...and the further you get from the legal district, the worse the bus system is.

2.  Light rail would be PERFECT for Arizona, but it will never happen, because for some reason, the blue hairs have associated it with communism.  No, I don't understand, either.

1. Electric or gas powered bicycle, with appropriate weather gear/encasing on bike. Just about the same commute time if roads for such travel are constructed.

2. Throw them in the tar pits.

See, the thing is, there are problems with such solutions. But none of them are as costly as every person having their own car, and they are at any rate easily overcome by human ingenuity. To think that our current system is the best just because it's what we do is foolish.

We have enough technology to not use the one piece that we use that does us so much harm.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

This is clearly an insufficiently unpopular opinion. You're fucking terrible at being terrible, Alty.

[Salty]

This is clearly an insufficiently unpopular opinion. You're fucking terrible at being terrible, Alty.

Hey, it's a well known opinion that I'm GREAT at being terrible.

Careful now.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Also your suit doesn't fit.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

1. Electric or gas powered bicycle, with appropriate weather gear/encasing on bike. Just about the same commute time if roads for such travel are constructed.

How do you weatherize a bike for 115F and direct sunlight?

2. Throw them in the tar pits.

They own the police.

See, the thing is, there are problems with such solutions. But none of them are as costly as every person having their own car, and they are at any rate easily overcome by human ingenuity. To think that our current system is the best just because it's what we do is foolish.

We have enough technology to not use the one piece that we use that does us so much harm.

The trick isn't to build or use less cars, Alty.  The trick is to build and use BETTER cars.  And I don't mean pieces of shit like "hybrids".  I'm thinking Smartcars, here, and improvements on them.

[Salty]

1. Electric or gas powered bicycle, with appropriate weather gear/encasing on bike. Just about the same commute time if roads for such travel are constructed.

How do you weatherize a bike for 115F and direct sunlight?

2. Throw them in the tar pits.

They own the police.

See, the thing is, there are problems with such solutions. But none of them are as costly as every person having their own car, and they are at any rate easily overcome by human ingenuity. To think that our current system is the best just because it's what we do is foolish.

We have enough technology to not use the one piece that we use that does us so much harm.

The trick isn't to build or use less cars, Alty.  The trick is to build and use BETTER cars.  And I don't mean pieces of shit like "hybrids".  I'm thinking Smartcars, here, and improvements on them.

Bikes can be built with enclosures, much like a car, at a fraction of the cost. Not a tiny fraction, but a fraction nonetheless. Solar powered products that mitigate the heat have to exist, yeah? Ice, somehow? A coolant system must be possible that isn't AC. Or hell, AC. As long as the enclosure is built properly.

We went into space with foil, I can't imagine it takes that much engineering to get something less than a car but more than a bike to withstand temps. on earth if we can manage it in the vacuum of space.

2. That well and truly is a major part of the problem.

That leaves us still dependent on manufacturers, lobbyists, industry that does not have our best interest at heart.

Additionally, it's my opinion that the only reason we thing we need cars is because of the time those people have spent convincing us of that.

[Salty]

Not a car.

http://www.gizmag.com/go/1811/

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Additionally, it's my opinion that the only reason we thing we need cars is because of the time those people have spent convincing us of that.

Also, running them over with a bike isn't nearly as scary.

[Salty]

Additionally, it's my opinion that the only reason we thing we need cars is because of the time those people have spent convincing us of that.

Also, running them over with a bike isn't nearly as scary.

Yeah. There's that. The machismo of the average car all by itself, the terror and swagger of it, offends me.

This is true, all this shit I'm saying is my actual opinion.

WHERE'S THE HATE?