this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
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Fuck Cars

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A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Doesn't the economic benefits of a longer commute time offset the costs of these depressive symptoms?

[–] CowsLookLikeMaps 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Which economic benefits are you alluding to?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

there are so many:

  • vehicle maintenance
  • vehicle replacement
  • fuel
  • road repair
  • healthcare
  • fast food

there are soo many ways that a long commute supports the economy. it could be selfish to not commute in a motor vehicle for less than an hour each way.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This illustrates very well how broken our economic system is lol. What benefits "the economy" (GDP) is not what benefits real people/communities.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

It's also well documented by strongtowns how car infrastructure specifically devastates local communities and bankrupts cities due to how exorbitantly expensive it is. Long car commutes may increase the GDP of a country, but local areas suffer.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Look man, I understand that hundreds of dead babies sounds like a tragic thing. But please, think about the jobs created for the people that dig their mass graves.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Those are no benefits but just examples for economically uneducated positions. Work is not an end in itself but just a tool. A broken window that is replaced by one miner, one glass producer and one craftsman has less value compared to an unbroken window and 3 persons with free time to create for example a new window.

Cars and car-centric lifestyles come with incredible economic cost.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Wish I could enjoy some of these things but unfortunately I'm stuck commuting 🤷

[–] CowsLookLikeMaps 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

So if I'm understanding correctly, your position is that spending money on vehicle maintenance, fuel, healthcare (presumably for treating the depression?) from a long commute is going to improve the economy by an amount greater than how much the "depressive symptoms" impact the economy?

Or in other words, it's fine that there are more cases of depression because it benefits the economy. It hinges on the assumption that someone with depression is "bad for the economy" and that the economy matters more than peoples' suffering. This is an inherently ableist and morally bankrupt perspective, as is usually the case when distilling everything down to a utilitarian equation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

it's incredible isn't it?

seems like this is how it works to me anyway