I know the demographics around here, so I know everyone’s just going to put “nothing lol”, but please understand what I’m asking first.

I’m physically incapable of driving a car. I stand to gain immeasurably from a world that didn’t assume everyone owned one. Having loved-ones with respiratory issues aggravated by car exhaust has made me very aware of the health issues surrounding the burning of fossil fuels, and having to navigate sidewalkless suburban stroads on a regular basis and juggle poorly funded public transit has made it very clear to me that pedestrians are second class citizens. I could go on and on about the mess cars have made of urban planning, and the number of jobs I couldn’t take because they required driving, but I digress.

In short, I hate cars just as much as the rest of you. But I’m also conscious that a lot of other people feel differently. What does widespread car ownership enable that would be difficult or impossible otherwise?

As an American I’m familiar with the cultural aura that surrounds the automobile. One of the early episodes of Mythbusters explained this pretty well while digging into the folklore surrounding a particular car-related urban legend. Cars represent freedom and self determination, two qualities highly prized in American society. You can go where you want when you want, without relying on schedules and routes mandated by public transit[1].

Looking at more tangible things, I suppose hauling a bunch of stuff from point A to point B would be hard without a car.

But what else am I missing?

  1. Ignoring the fact you can only go where there are roads, and someone has to build and maintain those roads. ↩︎

  • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
    0·
    4 days ago

    Just a heads up, The USPS will not ship liquids, but UPS and FedEx will if you pack them in plenty of bubble wrap.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 days ago

        Effing Pennsylvania is a state to avoid then. I don’t know whether they’ve changed anything but I did that a few years back and they said they weren’t allowed to sell me more than two sixpacks. While I don’t actually drink much, beer stores well for weeks to months and I had found a brewery I liked but haven’t been to since

        • 😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemmy.world
          0·
          3 days ago

          My GF and I made it into 21 breweries in 2.5 days in the Pittsburgh area.

          Dancing Gnome, and 11th Hour were the best of the bunch. Then we enjoyed VooDoo near where we stayed. Very cool vibe. They had old wooden doors that had been painted by local artists and they were hanging flat from the ceiling. They had these rolling, caged fire pits out in the beer garden… those are a great idea!