Ezra Klein's saying that whenever James Dobson appears, he starts swearing compulsively. I've noticed a similar phenomena with myself, except in this case, the culprit is large SUVs, especially Hummers. I see one, and I start cursing as loudly as possible, in the (probably vain) hopes that the driver will hear my complaints. Alas, my words usually disappear in to the wind.
But while I hate SUVs and all they represent, it's good to know that they aren't without their advocates. For the people who like the idea of quickening the environmental and economic destruction of the planet,
Rosie Dimanno Margaret Wente is there for you. Her column this morning in the
Globe and Mail is an astonishing piece of work. It manages to blithely dismiss all the reasons people should avoid SUVs, and embrace the most disgusting aspects of North American consumerism. I think my favourite part is where she says that she's proud - proud, dammit! - that she never takes public transit.
The larger problem with
Dimanno Wente is that she's unfortunately bought in to the myth that Car = Freedom. First off, there's a logical problem here. Really, mobility might be considered freedom, but a half-decent public transit system could guarantee that "freedom" as well as or better than cars. It's even worse if we take a minute to look at the problems associated with gasoline-powered cars. Between insurance, maintenance, and gasoline prices, my brief ownership of a car left me without any sense of freedom, number of large bills to pay. I was much happier - and felt much "free-er" when I sold the damn thing.
No,
Dimanno has confused a privilege with a freedom. It's been a privilege of the upper class to own and drive SUVs - and now that the bill is coming due, they arrogantly call it a "freedom", to try and hide their greed and conceit. These people can afford the fuel cost, even at $1 a litre. The problem is that the rest of us can't afford the external costs of SUVs, or for that matter the entire gas-powered car itself. The rich have always been arrogant about their privilege, but it's still a shock to see it so blatantly peddled in my morning paper.
Update: Oops. Got my harpies mixed up. The woman in question is Margaret Wente, not Rosie Dimanno. I dislike both immensely, but this offense was Wentes. So apologies (of a sort) to Dimanno.
1 comment:
Here's another dimension to that "freedom": the way that cars have reshaped our cities and towns. Strip malls, urban sprawl, the vast expanses where you can't walk anywhere useful: all results of the car.
The freedom not to own a car is, if anything, more important than the freedom of having one. But between the pedestrian- and bike-unfriendly practices that pass as planning in so many communities, and the gradual strangulation of public transit, that's a freedom being denied to more and more people.
We subsidize car ownership and operation -- not just with tax dollars and a ruinous environmental mortgage -- but by forcing others to make the same choice, no matter how much it costs them. Rosie Dimanno's "freedom" is just too damned expensive to the rest of us.
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