We may be witnessing the death of America’s
car culture. And it’s not dying of old age. People are still buying lots of cars. But there’s been a concerted push by government
bureaucrats and environmentalists to transform car ownership from a source of pride to a
source of guilt. Ever since Henry Ford built the Model T, cars
have been central to the American experience. That’s because cars are more than just another
way to get from point A to point B. They allow us to go wherever we want, whenever
we want, with whomever we want. Think about it: with trains, planes, and buses,
the routes are planned and the schedule is timed. Only cars allow you to be spontaneous. When you get behind the wheel, you are in
control. You are free. The very reason people love cars – personal
freedom -- is also why regulators can't stand them. Government – at all levels – craves control. And when it comes to your car, they want you
off the road. So do the environmentalists with whom they
have made common cause. This antagonism toward America’s car culture
can be traced back to the 1970s. In response to the Arab Oil Embargo in the
early part of that decade, Congress passed national fuel economy standards for cars and
light trucks. These standards, known as CAFE (short for
Corporate Average Fuel Economy), forced automakers to increase fuel efficiency. Rather than let the free market decide what
kind of cars customers wanted to buy, the government decided to do the dictating. Their regulations have cost car companies
and consumers many billions of dollars. But in the last decade or so, the government’s
heavy hand has come down harder than ever. Beginning in 2009, the Obama administration
sought to dramatically increase CAFE requirements. These Obama-era standards make cars more expensive—around $4,000 per new vehicle, according to economists Salim Furth and David Kreutzer. This prices millions of middle-class families
out of the new car market. The regulations also encourage the production
of smaller, lighter cars, that are generally less safe than larger, heavier ones. The laws of physics are tough to argue with! To make matters worse, the new CAFE standards
push automakers to produce more electric cars, a lose-lose for consumers and, ironically,
the environment as well. Consumers lose because, according to a study
from the consulting firm Arthur D. Little, electric vehicles cost significantly more
to operate over their lifetime than comparable gasoline-powered cars -- around $20,000 more. And the environment loses because electric
vehicles produce three times as much toxic pollution as gas powered ones when you factor
in the mining of rare earth minerals that electric car batteries require. And this doesn’t include the environmental
consequences involved in ultimately disposing of these batteries. Adding insult to injury, a typical electric
car gets fewer than 100 miles per charge and can take 4 to 8 hours to fully charge the
battery. So much for the freedom of the open road. Maybe that explains why consumers have shown
scant interest in these cars, despite hefty government subsidies and privileges. Still the regulators, bureaucrats and environmentalists
persist. Urban planners are adding bike lanes, reducing
parking spots, and pouring billions into more public transportation— all to get people
out of their cars. Former Boston Mayor Tom Menino once declared,
“The car is no longer king” before banning all cars in a popular downtown shopping district. Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of DC, actually
encourages people to adopt a “car-free diet” and live in one of the county’s “urban
villages.” Seattle, meanwhile, plans to “aggressively”
discourage driving by limiting parking spots, even though cars are “an unavoidable part
of work and life for most people,” according to the Seattle Times. Time will tell if these regulations and strategies
will work. Americans are explorers. We value our independence, and we’ve never
been good at staying put, or being told where to go and at what time. Maybe that’s why, despite the government’s
best laid plans, sales of trucks and SUVs are breaking records as low gasoline prices
inspire people to drive more and buy bigger vehicles. Why shouldn’t they? Personal car ownership is part of America’s
fabric. It brings people together, and makes this
big country of ours seem a little smaller… and more free. America’s car culture isn’t dead…yet. So long as Americans still want to live in
the Land of the Free, America’s car culture will never die. I’m Lauren Fix for
Prager University.
Weak. If you're gonna try to be all libertarian about roads, at least be willing to pay private road owners. https://twitter.com/sbcrosscountry/status/1212840990714867712
Also, the same freedoms apply to walking and biking, and no one seems to be against those. I wonder if there's something unique about cars? Maybe killing people regularly through both impacts and pollution? No, it must be freedom.
"Personal car ownership brings people together"? Have you ever had to drive at rush hour? I've never had less faith in my fellow humans than when I had to get into work by 9 using a car.
FWIW, it's getting shredded in the top comments, which usually isn't the case for Prager.
Replace the cars with taco trucks.
I legit burst out laughing
Hello based department? I'd like to file a claim
Joke: There isn't a war on cars and that's a good thing
Broke: There is a war on cars and it's a bad thing
Woke: There is a war on cars and it's a good thing
Masterstroke: There isn't a war on cars and it's a bad thing
Tfw when freedom is driving your government warranted vehicle, with you government issued license, on roads built and maintained by huge cross subsidies from the general tax base, created by using eminent domain to seize land. Then you can park it in a government mandated parking space, having maneuvered it through streets built using money forced from private entities, etc, etc.
TIL Cars = personal freedom! Also, walking and biking don't exist apparently.
Ok then can we go take it behind the barn and shoot it
Let's dispel the notion that cars represent freedom once and for all.
In your daily life, where is the one location in America where your 4th amendment rights mean basically nothing? Your car. The level of "probable cause" required for officers to search your car and person are essentially zero. Compare that to walking down the street or sitting in your own home. This precedent has been held up by SCOTUS.
I could see an argument that cars are freedom if it weren't for the fact that our entire built environment makes the majority of people dependent on them. When everything is zoned for car dependent, sprawling, single family homes with little to no public transportation and too vast of distances to realistically walk or bike to places of commerce and work, then cars don't become a thing of freedom, they become a necessity to function. Now when you combine the necessity for a car with the cost of owning a car, that all of a sudden doesn't simply exist as a lack of freedom, it becomes a financial burden.
Let's talk cost. Insurance, gas, maintenance, registration. These costs tie up so much of people's income, especially lower income people. How is it freedom? It's more accurate to describe it as a ball and chain bringing down the economic productivity of the average American.
Let's talk about economic productivity. The amount of productive time lost commuting in America is fucking insane. So not only are we spending a shitload of money to maintain this essentially government mandated through shitty zoning laws form of transportation, but we're losing money as a society by the amount of time that we waste commuting by car. And beyond the money, we're losing precious time we could be spending with our friends, families, and neighbors, making us more isolated and fracturing our social structure. How is it freedom to be forced to spend so much time per day isolated from our fellow humans?
I completely understand that cars are very good for mid to long distance trips, especially to more isolated areas. Like how the hell else are you gonna go camping or hiking? But even with that in mind, how often does your average American go do something that requires going to a highly isolated area that doesn't have a high frequency enough traffic of people to warrant a public transportation option? Honestly not much. Let's get real, in day to day life, most people use their cars to go from home, to work, the grocery store, drop/pick up their kids at school, do other shopping, visit the doctor. All daily tasks that could easily be accomplished without a car if it weren't for our incredibly shitty built environment.
TL;DR fuck your car, the only reason you need it is our shitty zoning laws. Change that and cars not only become unnecessary, they'll become inconvenient.