Philosophy

We live in a culture of increasing isolation, consumerism, poor health and blatant disregard for the environment, and our obsessive attachment to our cars bears a significant amount of the blame for this culture. My issue is not so much with cars themselves – in fact, the invention and proliferation of the automobile have contributed greatly to the growth and economic progress of this country over the past century. My concern is the extent to which we have allowed cars to dominate our lives. After much reflection on the role of cars in American society, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Most U.S. communities are designed primarily to accommodate transportation by car. Thus the distances between the essential facets of community life are too formidable for walking and the layout of roads and intersections inhospitable to biking. In addition, people are increasing isolated from others in their own community and are denied essential face-to-face interactions with other people.

2. Cars have allowed for the increasing geographic separation of communities from places of work and commerce, creating inefficiencies in the form of traffic, pollution and lost time. In addition, this sprawl has had a widespread deleterious impact on the environment and allowed Americans to retreat from economically and racially diverse communities and environments.

3. U.S. government policy has historically provided massive incentives, including subsidies in the form of road construction, cheap fuel prices, homeownership interest deductions, and benefits to U.S. auto manufacturers, that not only favor the car to the detriment of other forms of transportation, but have created an unhealthy dependence on the car for our way of life.

4. Dependence on the car hamstrings U.S. foreign policy in dealing with oil-producing nations, creating policies and outcomes that are not in the long term interests of either the U.S. or the rest of the world.

5. Reliance on the car for even the shortest trips has eliminated walking or biking from daily lives, creating unhealthy lifestyles devoid of physical activity.

6. Modern American consumerism, characterized by excessive choices and overindulgence, is possible only through the car and its ability to transport large quantities of purchased goods. This dynamic has also encouraged the increasing centralization of retail stores and made purchases of necessary retail goods without the use of a car unnecessarily challenging.

7. The car, which was originally a symbol of progress and modernization, has become an obstacle to innovation by preserving outdated work and transportation patterns, stymieing new technologies that threaten the combustion engine and oil dependence, and preventing new thinking in areas such as urban planning and the use of energy.

8. The convergence of technological developments, geopolitical realities and renewed awareness about energy consumption and climate change make this an ideal time to begin to counter the car’s dominance of American culture.