I’m trying to determine if this is satire or not. I’ll respond anyways if it is just to share a point of view for anybody else reading though.
EDIT: I just saw the username and saw you commented above. The below still stands for everything the average big truck American embodies though.
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Besides the fact you have an oversized, $30,000+ vehicle for just grocery shopping (as you say “so you get some use out of it”), the ideal walkable/bikable city will save you time plus has the added benefit of making you healthier too. The exercise you get and reduced air pollution will have a noticeable affect on health and lifespan.
As for time saving, you say you spend ~40 minutes traveling to the big box store, but a walkable city would have more stores closer to you so you could just take a short 10 minute walk or 4 minute bike ride to them.
The umbrella and bag situation is an easy fix though, just spend like $100 on raincoat, backpack, etc.; you didn’t mind spending $30,000 on a truck. I know some people need a vehicle for longer travel, but that’s the point people are trying to make. Having every American require a multi-thousand dollar more of transportation when $500 for a bike and equipment is just insane.
I probably should have put /s or something but it isn’t necessarily sarcasm. While my above comment isn’t my take, it is the mindset of most folks in the US (can’t speak for Canada). It isn’t like they are inconvenienced by driving cars, they think it is great. The downsides of car culture have been slowly eroding all of us from the inside like a parasite we don’t know we have. Trying to convince this very realistic F150 owner that they don’t need a car, and that there could theoretically exist a world in which they can walk and shop smaller and deal with the weather like the rest of the world is not going to be an easy task because it is a universe away from their current reality, worldview and identity.
My intention isn’t to be all “doomer” about this, I really do hope we fix things here. But hard work isn’t going to be enough and I guess that is where I’m going with this. To fix America’s landscape/infrastructure we need radical revolution levels of change and there are several, imo, higher priority things to do before we even get to those items. I don’t blame folks for just up and leaving if they have the means. I plan to and my life and my family’s life will be better for it. Universal healthcare, free/affordable tuition, walkable living spaces that feel like home, schools that don’t have to do active shooter drills, safety for LGBTQIA+ people, reasonable laws and fewer fascist neighbors: all of these things exist already in places around the world. NJB moved because he could and is shitting on the US because frankly it deserves it and maybe the shock treatment will wake up a few minds to their reality. Is he an asshole? Maybe, but he isn’t wrong.
I’m trying to determine if this is satire or not. I’ll respond anyways if it is just to share a point of view for anybody else reading though.EDIT: I just saw the username and saw you commented above. The below still stands for everything the average big truck American embodies though.
–
Besides the fact you have an oversized, $30,000+ vehicle for just grocery shopping (as you say “so you get some use out of it”), the ideal walkable/bikable city will save you time plus has the added benefit of making you healthier too. The exercise you get and reduced air pollution will have a noticeable affect on health and lifespan.
As for time saving, you say you spend ~40 minutes traveling to the big box store, but a walkable city would have more stores closer to you so you could just take a short 10 minute walk or 4 minute bike ride to them.
The umbrella and bag situation is an easy fix though, just spend like $100 on raincoat, backpack, etc.; you didn’t mind spending $30,000 on a truck. I know some people need a vehicle for longer travel, but that’s the point people are trying to make. Having every American require a multi-thousand dollar more of transportation when $500 for a bike and equipment is just insane.
I probably should have put /s or something but it isn’t necessarily sarcasm. While my above comment isn’t my take, it is the mindset of most folks in the US (can’t speak for Canada). It isn’t like they are inconvenienced by driving cars, they think it is great. The downsides of car culture have been slowly eroding all of us from the inside like a parasite we don’t know we have. Trying to convince this very realistic F150 owner that they don’t need a car, and that there could theoretically exist a world in which they can walk and shop smaller and deal with the weather like the rest of the world is not going to be an easy task because it is a universe away from their current reality, worldview and identity.
My intention isn’t to be all “doomer” about this, I really do hope we fix things here. But hard work isn’t going to be enough and I guess that is where I’m going with this. To fix America’s landscape/infrastructure we need radical revolution levels of change and there are several, imo, higher priority things to do before we even get to those items. I don’t blame folks for just up and leaving if they have the means. I plan to and my life and my family’s life will be better for it. Universal healthcare, free/affordable tuition, walkable living spaces that feel like home, schools that don’t have to do active shooter drills, safety for LGBTQIA+ people, reasonable laws and fewer fascist neighbors: all of these things exist already in places around the world. NJB moved because he could and is shitting on the US because frankly it deserves it and maybe the shock treatment will wake up a few minds to their reality. Is he an asshole? Maybe, but he isn’t wrong.