Originally Posted by
cooker
So how much of the backlash against car-free advocacy do you think is truly grass-roots reaction by the public and how much does it reflect public opinion being manipulated by advertisers, public relations people and so on, working in the interests of the real estate, oil, car and other industries?. Are the people who think car-free or environmental advocates are preachy etc. actually thinking for themselves, or are they barking on cue for someone else, without realizing it?
In most social gatherings I have been in car free and environmental advocates hardly are ever thought of let alone backlashed against. I don't believe cyclists even hit the Forbes 500 radar. But tree hugger was a term from the street and as grass roots as it gets. I first heard it from the working men of the lumber industry in Washington state. Well with some profanity before and after the name tree hugger. It doesn't get much more grass roots than when the attitude comes from the very people you are trying to influence. I personally know lumber jacks that would gladly drive a spike into a member of ELF like they did trees so chainsaws would hit them. Society itself came up with the DUI connotation for an adult on a bicycle corporate America didn't have to take out an add.
Monday i rode 35 miles to meet some friends for lunch. As we sat at a patio table talking and planning our next outing two older men pulled up any got out of what looked to be a F series heavy duty truck. Much bigger than a 350. One walked up and asked how far we had come that day. When we told him he said, "don't you like cars?" We smiled and said, we like cars, we don't like paying for gas. With they finally smiled and went in to have lunch themselves. I don't believe we would have gotten a smile if we complained about their truck do you?