After some thought, I’m going with the private automobile. Most of us know the story about how the car was seen as a clean replacement for the horse. Horses pooped all over the place and thousands of horses made mountains of manure.
In the US, cars made sense; it’s a young country with wide streets. In Europe, the streets were designed for two horses to pass each other, maybe even pulling a cart. Even major arteries there, are cramped when filled with cars. The Europeans make their cars small, which makes sense; my Nissan March has a three-cylinder, 1.2 litre engine. They also cannot understand why Americans such have large cars. City layout doesn’t seem to enter into the equation. Even our smallest towns have main streets with four lanes plus parking on both sides.
The automobile served a purpose and did it well. I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Today, even modest cars run from thirty to fifty thousand dollars. Then there’s fuel, insurance, maintenance, and financing. It’s basically a thousand dollars a month. That’s perhaps a quarter of your entire income. Then there is the value of that new car the minute you drive it off the dealer’s lot. Not every curse comes in grandpa’s voice.
Today the majority of the world’s population live in cities. These people should not need cars. Most cities don’t really prioritize public transport; at least not in a way that would allow for the easy replacement of the private car. That suits major industry just fine.
Think I’m being a Libtard… again? Let me give you an example: in the 1930’s, Los Angles had a large subway system. A complete, working underground Metro. The tunnels are still there, abandoned. GM and Firestone paid the city to close it and buy buses instead. Now, LA is building a new, multi-billion-dollar Metro system to replace what they already had.
To be clear, I’m not saying all private automobiles should go. Not at all. Folks who live in the country still need cars. Delivery companies, construction, emergency services, and repair companies will need to have large, well-equipped trucks. I don’t suppose this will change anytime soon and that’s alright.
When I was small, my dad used to tell me to use the right tool for the right job. The private automobile is no longer the right tool. In fact, it’s probably the worst choice.
Popular things that shouldn’t be………
Stupidity. There’s too much of it, and it’s on the increase. Stupidity, wilful ignorance, idiocy, lack of basic knowledge, call it what you like, but our planet is becoming overrun with witless and educationally-bereft sub-humans. It shouldn’t be like that today.
Our ancient ancestors had every right to be ignorant. They did not possess a cat’s hell of a chance of finding out much about anything because the information was simply not available. Today, so many ignorant twats choose to ignore facts, science, truth or understanding, even though it’s all so readily and cheaply available.
Environmental destruction and preventable diseases persist today not because the solutions don’t exist, but because the morons choose not to listen, to learn, or to change.
As I have testified in this blog previously, the internet makes the stupid more stupid. The flat-earthers and other conspiracy theorists find it easy to get their idiocy amplified, boosted and turbo-charged. Simply because they are that stupid in the first place.
Many of today’s politicians, (are you listening America?), don’t even try to make the lives of their constituents better. But they do one thing very, very well. They give the stupid someone, or something, to blame! Oh yes, they give the stupid someone, or something, to hate.
The eminently stupid folk today spend their lives on social media, worrying what others are doing and what others think about them. How sad, and what a waste. But when you’re stupid, you don’t focus on yourself, and how you could make things better for yourself and for others.
And don’t get me started on religion. Why would any god allow such stupidity?
I simply do not understand why being stupid is so popular today. It most certainly shouldn’t be.