Originally Posted by patc
Contempt because they have allowed themselves to become dependent on a car... but it goes beyond that for me. I hate the selfishness a personal-use car represents. That means the owner is willing to poison the air, use up diminishing resources, and cover the landscape in pavement just so he/she can drive around.
We've gone from few or no smog-warning days to about 30 last summer. Every remaining green space in my neighbourhood is being removed for "transportation corridors". All because some people care more about themselves than those around them. The only good news is that I live in a city willing to work on the problem of car-use in urban centres. Unfortunately they are not addressing the real problem: selfish people.
You said it well, as did Bekologist in his first reply.
The number of "orange" air quality days in Charlotte has quadrupled over the last 20 years. The number of incredibly fat people has done the same. I don't hate people who drive cars (I drive sometimes, too). I hate
having to drive to many of the places I want to go, and having to apologize/explain my eccentricity if I
don't drive.
I believe in the power of the bicycle to cure a lot of what ails us, and I find the biggest obstacles to convincing others to bike are: 1) the behavior of many car drivers; and (more especially) 2) a transportation system set up solely to accomodate cars.
And yeah, I resent the hell out of that second one.