I’m a person living in a rural area and have to either go by train, the nearest station being 15 mins away by car and the trains having a schedule that keeps fluctuating.
Or have to go by car where it takes 60 mins to get where I need to go. I wouldn’t want to get a late pickup or anything outrageous just something to get me places.
I’m not a car enthusiast or anything like that.
the “fuck cars” mindset is typically that we’re against car-dependency, not against people who are victims of car-dependent societies. Naturally people in suburbs and more rural areas, especially here in america, will need a car. It’s not ideal and it’s something that should be fixed but it happens.
Exactly. Blaming individuals for systemic problems never gets you anywhere. If you can reduce your car dependency, sure, do that, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t.
This is important! On that note: The first “pesonal climate footprint caluclator” was developed and published by BP, the oil company. The idea was to make people feel bad about their personal behavior instead of questioning the business models and political influence/ anti-progress-lobbying of those corporations.
Also worth reminding that the whole “carbon footprint” thing was made up by Shell, with that one and similar tactics they have effectively manipulated working class people into believing they are responsible (and guilty) of things like CO2 emissions, global warming, car-reliant infrastructure…
Which obviously doesn’t mean we can’t take action or that one should buy a diesel car and take it to go anywhere because it’s Shell and BP who should stop profiteering from the impending climate catastrophe, and expecting these corporations to join the efforts to control global warming and shift our transport infrastructures out of their own free will would be very naïve. But those changes have to come from a structural point, rather than individual.
It’s important to note that there are some countries where even the rural communities have enough transit options that cars aren’t necessary. It’s less common, but it does exist.
I hope my local government makes bus service better then as the alternative is more than 3 hours of bus rides with a large cramped bus :/
Yup. I also find myself in an american car-dependent suburb and it’s honestly hell here. Public transit is basically non-existent, and we don’t even have sidewalks. I really wish america would do better on walkable cities and public transit. It’s annoying.
Fair enough I’m in a rural town in Europe and it’s mostly an issue of having to get to the city, thankfully I don’t need to use a car for anything else other than getting to work and maybe the nearest large town but that’s mostly due to the fact that a family sadly needs loads of groceries to feed itself.
yeah if you do most of your day to day tasks without a car and just use a car sometimes then that’s great. the issue is like how it is here in america where you literally can’t do anything without a car. it sucks.
Yeah I’ve heard about it from my boyfriend it’s crazy! He goes “see you in 3 hours I gotta go shopping”
that’s how it is Dx. 1 hour drive to get to the store and a 1 hour drive back, plus all the time you spend shopping.
Do you think it’ll get better?
I think more people are finally becoming aware of the issue, so yeah I think we’ll eventually start heading in the right direction. maybe not at the pace the netherlands did it, but… eventually.
Yeah, I think this is kind of a problem with fuck cars communication. It really needs to be clear that it’s against car dependency.
I mean I’m a “fuck cars purist” I’m not a fan of cars at all. But yes, the movement is very much about car-dependency, not cars.