Originally Posted by
zeppinger
Most of us are not pro hokey players, pro MTB riders, or pro anything. For me, I am not losing anything by renting equipment because my "performance" has little to do with my enjoyment of actually riding a bike, playing hockey, ect...
I am not saying that everyone should rent everything. All I am saying is that it seems relatively easy to make up excuses to own a private automobile, which is the topic of this thread. "It snows in my town, I play the drums, I don't like renting this or that even though I only use it once a month...." I totally agree with you that its important to have these cultural artifacts in our society but I think even more people would play drums or hockey if they were cheaper to enter such as with quality rental equipment. I remember fighting a lot with my mother when I took up roller hockey because all the damn pads were so expensive! Why does an entry level drummer have to buy an entire kit before they can even decide if they like playing them?
To Gerv: I also see what your saying and I am sure that my assessment of the quality of life in Korea has a lot to do with the fact that I find my mobility here to very good, despite not owning a vehicle. However, what matters even more to me and other Koreans is that you can have a high quality of life at a low price. For example, (sorry this is off topic) a minimum salary here is almost the same as in the US but the cost of living is much cheaper. A lot of the little luxuries are very inexpensive such as taxis, eating out, bath houses, theaters, ect... Hell, Seoul is the second most densely populated city in the world, only fractionally less so than Tokyo, yet I live in the center of the city for less than $350 a month for my own private apartment. Try that in an major US city. The fact that I dont have to own a car further decreases my need for a high income. The income tax is 3.5% and there is no sales tax. Health care is excellent and universal for all citizens. Last time I went to the doctor I waited in line for 0 minutes. The doctors visit cost me $6 and $4 for the prescription.
While the US is trying to increase peoples incomes so they can live above the bare minimum, Korea has simply made the cost of living cheaper.
It may seem like it is too easy to make excuses but you make it sound effortless to simply drop everything and become car free as if none of the things like music, art and sports are a consideration. Not so for many people. There is more to life than going to work and going home. I don't know why things have to be so expensive any more than I know why with all the low cost benefits and the attempt Korea seems to have made to lower the cost of living they have 15 percent living below poverty line and the US has 12 percent. As reported in the CIA fact Book.
That however is not the point, the point is in places like the US people will have to make some decisions on what they are willing to give up to be car free. Telling them that nothing will change is inviting failure. They cannot expect that nothing will change and that they will be able to do all the things they used to do and that their former friends can still do. You haven’t indicated they can still do them only that they aren’t worth doing if you can’t o them and be car free. What you have indicated is it is not fair that what they want to do cost so much and that they can’t rent anything they need to continue the activities I have mentioned. If it were easy to do more people would do it. It isn’t so they don’t.
Last edited by Robert Foster; 10-24-10 at 08:07 PM.