[QatzelOk]

Just one of the many reasons why Australians owe respect to the motor vehicles.

So if gas becomes too expensive, you're all going back to England?

[Zimpo]

Trying to eliminate cars is like trying to stop teenagers from having sex; just not going to happen.

Instead, we need to look at the evolution of cars... such as Tesla Motors.

Due out in mid-march.

[Grunch]

Trying to eliminate cars is like trying to stop teenagers from having sex; just not going to happen.

They're nothing alike.

[Notorious B.i.G.]

So if gas becomes too expensive, you're all going back to England?

Most cars in Australia do not run on gas, they run on Petrol. Petrol isn't too expensive (aprox $A1lt) and gas is even cheaper (aprox $10.5lt). Gas isn't popular because lpg conversions are expensive and reduce performance. Also Australia has relatively large gas reserves so it'll stay cheap for a while.

By the time petrol and gas run out there will be new technologies to replace them, which means cars will be around for a while longer.

[Adrien]

He probably meant "gas" in the American sense, ie petrol. Back home in France gas vehicles were announced like the messiah in the 90's, but it was a huge flop due to expensive conversions indeed, but also due to the lack of service stations proposing gas.

Diesel quickly became the new black in that context. I don't think you Aussies will be in trouble like the Americans will when petrol prices get even worse. Being more like Europe in the mentality I think, you'll find new technologies to make up for it.

I'm really excited about the return of small-displacement turbocharged engines. They're all the rage in the Old Continent, and are said to be economical and fun.

[QatzelOk]

By the time petrol and gas run out there will be new technologies to replace them

You have so much faith in technology.

Will the new free-running vehicles usher in a new age of golden prosperity? The way that microwave ovens, 8-track players and cellphones did?

[Notorious B.i.G.]

You have so much faith in technology.

Will the new free-running vehicles usher in a new age of golden prosperity? The way that microwave ovens, 8-track players and cellphones did?

Like the same way technology ushered in new era of prosperity with penicillin, organ transplants, technologies leading into medical research, vaccinations, flight, nylon and other synthetics etc… oh and cars?

because a new age of prosperity brought about technology is just soooo bad!

I know I wish I was still a caveman. I'd be so happy because we didn't have cars and cell phones. That would make up for a life expectancy of 30 years at the most.

I'm really excited about the return of small-displacement turbocharged engines. They're all the rage in the Old Continent, and are said to be economical and fun.

I just spent the last 2 months in Europe. The cars there are great. Lots of little hatchbacks and what not with 4 pots and turbos. But I was very happy to come back home and hear big thumping V8's every where. Oh how I missed that sound Adrien.

Diesel hasn't taken off here as much as Europe. Mainly because diesel fule is more expensive than regular. Though it is comming into a par level with it now. Also diesel cars are more expensive to buy. But with huge pushes in Europe for it and large imports of europe cars here is Aus, it is really starting to take off.

He probably meant "gas" in the American sense, ie petrol.

Oh yes, god forbid that people outside the US use the English language properly.

[QatzelOk]

Faith and Environment

The Enso, or Zen circle, is one of the most appealing themes in Zen art. The Enso itself is a universal symbol of wholeness, completion and the cyclical nature of existence. Painted by Zen monks and nuns, it reflects their personal experience in the search for enlightenment and the awakening to the true nature of reality.

We don't pretend to have anything near this level of understanding in the Carbusters office. Our Enso reflects our personal experience in the reality we know; one where climate change is rapidly spiralling out of control, one where oil prices rise, yet people continue to drive and the cyclical nature of existence is threatened.

Which is why our Enso so dramatically fails. In this issue we explore the links between faith and the environment and ask what religion has to offer; does religious belief have any effect on your choice to drive or not to drive? If the answer to that question doesn't seem immediately obvious, pause for a second to consider whether the religions of the world contribute to the discussion on climate change.

We've found ample evidence. In North America, Evangelical Christian groups are currently entering into the discussion, even publishing reports and position papers, making a big fuss and calling for their leaders' resignations.

But it was upon discovering the "What would Jesus drive?" campaign and the Vatican's "10 Commandments for drivers" (see Car Cult, CB 31) that the relevance of the theme we had chosen to be our focus was underscored, making it clear to us that religion is an important element to consider whether related to general environmental issues, climate change, or even mobility questions.
...
Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a recent interview with the Ecologist magazine, hinted at the current dialogue going on between Christians and Muslims about the environment, an interfaith approach also espoused in these pages by the Christian Ecology Link. Martin Luther's quote "if I knew the world would end tomorrow I would plant a tree," is echoed by the prophet Mohammed, as Isa Ugurlu tells us.
...

Car Bustersmagazine

Cars are the work of Satan?
Another reason to hate them.

[SaulOhio]

I love riding my bike when the weather is nice.

But I can't ride my bike when there is a foot of new snow on the ground. OK, I've seen a few people do it, but I don't WANT to.

I don't get wet when its raining and I'm in my car.

My bike can't carry my windsurfing gear.

My bike won't take me from Cleveland to Lake St. Clair in Michigan when the wind is from the South and I still want to go windsurfing.

My bike won't carry much in the way of groceries.

I don't believe this nonsense about global warming anyway. Looks like the people who say climate is more affected by the sun than by CO2 are being proven right, and the Earth is starting to cool off. We'll know more for sure in just a couple of years.

And I LOVE driving my car. It called freedom. I have so many more options open to me than if I had to walk or bike everywhere. And I HATE public transportation. You always have to wait for the bus or train. They never go where you need to go, and you always have to walk to the station and to your destination. The seats are always torn up because people don't care about things that aren't their own property (tragedy of the commons). You never know who--or what-- you will be sitting next to. Could be a smelly drunk getting sick all over you or some dangerous lowlife criminal. Crowded, noisy, smelly.

[QatzelOk]

My bike can't carry my windsurfing gear.

It can't carry shipping containers from China either.

Why do you own wind-surfing equipment? Wouldn't it make more sense to rent it a few times a summer?

I don't believe this nonsense about global warming anyway.

This is another reason to hate cars: for supporting climate-denying groups and making us all a bit more ignorant and scared.

----------------------

I Hate Cars, I Hate Driving

I really dislike cars, and driving in general. In fact, I loathe it. Now, the miraculous technology of the World Wide Web allows me to whine to the entire world. So bear with me as I detail my reasons. . .

* Driving is wasted time - I don't learn anything, I don't get out of the car any better of a person than when I got in.

* Driving is stressful - the mornings I take public transit, I feel much better when I get to work.

* Sitting in a car is bad for you. I hate being cooped up. Human bodies need to move, and poorly designed car seats only make our bodies hurt more. I can't stretch with both arms or twist my spine around, or I'll die.

* Driving demands all your attention - I can't read a book or take a nap while I'm driving or I'll die. Both of these are much more productive activities.

* Any small diversion of attention, like changing the radio station or yawning, can result in death. Who wants to die for a yawn? The consequences seem all out of proportion to the benefits.

* Cars pollute. They stink and they make walking down the street a miserable experience.

* Cars detract from my freedom. I have to service this thing regularly, feed it gas and oil, etc. It's like I'm the slave to the car. Not to mention the thousands of dollars per year to keep it running.

* Cars have contributed to the suburbanization of society, and the resulting sense of alienation that people feel. People drive home directly from work, into their automatic garage, into their house. They lock the doors, close the windows, and then wonder why they are lonely.

* Cars detract from my ability to choose. There are places that if I want to go there, I *must* drive a car. Why am I forced to do something I don't like?

* Have you ever noticed the huge fraction of society's resources that goes to service the automobile industry? Look at the number of car commercials on TV and on the radio. Look at the vast amount of land space given to gas stations, repair shops, roads, parking lots, etc. Look at the huge amount of time people spend driving and servicing their cars. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly would call cars a memetic parasite, something that feeds off the effort and attention of human beings.

* Cars are so dangerous. Whenever someone dies in a plane crash, there's a huge public outcry for the FAA to spend millions of dollars pouring over regulations, investigating, etc. Yet every year 40,000 people die in car crashes in the US alone! And noone seems to care. What's going on here? How have we been so thoroughly duped?

[casper77]

eco-friendly horsepower.

[MVictorP]

Well, I hate cars too. The drama is; almost every job I had revolved around driving the damn things. I owned about 15 of these failed things. I know them well.

Here is the problems with cars:

- They cost a lot of money. Almost half the value of a house. However, they last for about 5 years before being completely out of date. That's not counting for insurance, gas, tires, permits, ect, etc.

- Most people I know have a more luxurious car interior than what they have in their living room. Do we really need that? Have you weighted a car seat in comparison to a home seat?

- They get more complicated and more sophisticated every year, yet they don't get any better: Why F1 technology in a domestic car? So that the mechanic at the corner cannot repair them? So that they could be sold at a higher price? Did we really asked for that?

- Why does cars can go to 200 KMH when the limit is 100? To get us the chance to use the 76 airbags and compression frame? And what is this thing about car publicity? When they target a male public, you see the damn thing zig-zaging along a deserted mountainside at ridiculous speed, and when they target the women market you see them full of babies and airbags. Conclusion; Go on, drive like an asshole, you should make it anyway. And buy another one.

- How come there are no speciality cars? Cars for security (with spotlights and revolving seats), cars with worktables for the travelling representant, or cars for two passengers and urban travel? Always the same costly shit, even thought it does not satisfies your needs. Some timid experiments were tried lately, but that's not nearly enough.

- And finally, how come the damn things still run on fossil oil, in this day and age? Come on.

The closest we were of the ideal car was the elder WV Beetle, that dates back to the 30s; a cheap, simple, durable car, easy to repair, easy to park and economic. We went downhill ever since.

In spite of all this, cars are for me a necessity; Public transportation are made for the 9 to 5 bourgeoisie, and I work the nightshift in some desolate industrial neighborood. I love getting outside of the steamy, silvered-sky city in the summer, and buses just cannot give you the freedom to take a swim in one of the wonderful lakes that peppers Quebec.

So I got to cope with the shit they sell me. Oh, and those who not not have one and bitch about them: consider yourself lucky: Car drivers are the biggest source of income here in Quebec; they alone make it (barely) possible to have the social paradise we have now.

[Quercus Robur]

I hate the cars cities are made for and vice versa.

[Kiashu]

So Kiashu, one of the posters wondered why you had posted the speed of car transportation as being slower than bicycle or walking. Can you explain how you came to this conclusion?

No, they just have to read the article. It's not like they have to go out and buy a book or something. ONE CLICK you lazy buggers.

And I LOVE driving my car. It called freedom.

Freedom!

Stuck in a job you hate to pay for the car you bought on loan. Stuck in traffic. If it breaks down, you have to stand by it. You have to spend hours every week searching for parking. You have to support foreign wars because they ensure your country can import the oil to keep that car going.

Freedom!

cars [...] cost a lot of money. Almost half the value of a house.

Wow, you must have really expensive cars, or really cheap houses where you are.

Here Down Under the median household income is about A$45,000, a used car is $2-10,000, and a new car is $15-$30,000. Luxury SUVs are around $50-60,000. Most people buying new cars get car loans, which have interest rates a few percent above the mortgage rate - so a car loan would be about 11-13% here. A small flat would run about $200,000, and a good house at least $450,000. A new and cheaply-built house way way out of the city far from any public transport or other services might hit you for $300,000.

[Dr House]

Yeh, it's about the same proportion in the States.

Freedom!

Stuck in a job you hate to pay for the car you bought on loan. Stuck in traffic. If it breaks down, you have to stand by it. You have to spend hours every week searching for parking. You have to support foreign wars because they ensure your country can import the oil to keep that car going.

You gotta remember it was your choice to be stuck with all of those things. I live in one of the most pedestrian-friendly cities in America and I've been here for two years without a car. I do plan on getting a used RX-7 or a bike eventually because I'm a total gearhead, but I haven't died for not having one.

[Abood]

You gotta remember it was your choice to be stuck with all of those things.

As always with Libertarians, simplifying "choice". Some people need a car and don't really choose to be stuck in a loan. It's something they have to accept if they are to travel to work every day.

Your idea of "choice" is ridiculous. It's as if someone can survive without having to take out a loan... Yeh, maybe he can survive, with a bicycle. Yeh, maybe he should cycle three hours to and from work everyday. That's a choice, I guess.

Not all people live in pedestrian-friendly cities and not all of them can go to their work on foot or by bike. And not all of them have the choice of moving to a pedestrian-friendly city and have a job close enough to walk or cycle to.

There's something called the enslavement of circumstances. Libertarians need to learn about it.

[Photonmaton]

All I want is a public transport system that doesn't smell bad, travels at ridiculous speeds, and has a sexy female robot voice for the announcer/speaker-system. If the state could just do that I'd be infinitely more optimistic about 21st-century democracy. We have 'the trolley' here in San Diego, it's not that bad of a system...I just really want me Maglev.

[Abood]

Well, it's the same people who talk about choice who refuse to give us the choice of public transportation.

[Dr House]

You create your own circumstances, Abood. Don't like where you live? Move. Don't wanna suffer the inconvenience of traveling on a bus? get a car. Do'nt wanna be stuck in traffic? Forget the car and ride a bus. Don't like your job? get a better one. Do'nt got the training? Go to college? Can't afford it? Get a fucking loan, that's what I did. There is always a choice, it's up to you to take the better one. It's not the mountain's job to go to Mohammed, it's Mohammed's job to go to the mountain.

Well, it's the same people who talk about choice who refuse to give us the choice of public transportation.

And fucking who might that be? Because all libertarians oppose is tax-funded public transit. The alternative isn't terrible, the best (and incredibly the cheapest) bus routes in Puerto Rico are privately owned.

-Dr House

[Abood]

You create your own circumstances

No you don't. You have to be rich enough, be able to sell your home and property, and not have anything you gotta stick with where you are.

No such thing as creating your own circumstances. What a delusion. You might as well argue that you're born in an era of your choosing.