#fuck car culture

[thefugitivesaint]

Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910), 'The Race of Death', ''Punch'', June 3, 1903

Source

I'm very much in the "anti-car culture" camp and find cars to be one of the worst aspects of living in any city (especially in Philly in the summer). It seems early cartoonists often depicted cars as machines of death around their general introduction into our shared public spaces. (I've amassed a rather large collection of these anti-car cartoons, this one from Punch being just one example.) Here's some car facts from a recent study from the Journal of Transport Geography: 1) 1 in 34 deaths are caused by cars and automobility with 1,670,000 deaths per year 2) Cars and automobility have killed 60–80 million people since their invention

[rjalker]

I still remember the time up in Pennsylvania that I specifically had to stand in the pouring rain for ten fucking minutes because parents who'd just dropped their kids off at school would not stop for the two seconds it would have taken me to cross the street in the alley. Like. Specifically. Literally. Parents who'd just dropped their kids off at the elementary school. Who you'd expect would at least pretend to give a shit. And they all chose to force me to stand there in the pouring fucking rain for ten solid minutes rather than stop for two seconds to let me cross.

[auntieashleydark]

Because auto manufacturers and fuel companies can get richer by selling cars and would lose money if trains were as/more convenient as driving.

please god above can someone explain to me why we're still working on self driving cars when trains exist

[thelesbianthespianposts]

imagine: you get your memories back after years of amnesia to find out your whole species is dead and earth doesn’t exist anymore. that the only thing left of your culture is your weird ex and his busted honda civic that barely even works that he stole from the government when he was 13. And he’s been taking members of an alien species for trips in his honda civic and they’re all like “woah it’s so cool” and you get upset because it’s NOT COOL it’s a honda civic, the turn signals don’t even work “wow it can go up hills” yeah OF COURSE IT CAN GO UP HILLS EVERY CAR COULD DO THAT. but they’ve never seen a car before so everything it does is the coolest thing ever. And your ex’s only tool is a fucking screwdriver which is somehow also cool to this dumbass alien species even though it’s a fucking screwdriver so you just look like an idiot screaming about how none of this is even cool it’s actually really shitty but your whole planet is gone so you can’t even prove it but also you’ve had a constant drumming sounding in your head since you were 10 slowly driving you insane. I would become evil too.

[insistonyourcupofstars]

Every time a pet dies on the side of the road, car culture becomes more and more evil.

[fandomsandfeminism]

On Saturday, in New York, a group of friends pulled into a strangers driveway to turn their car around. The homeowner came outside, shot at them, and killed one of the 20 year old women in the car.

Last Thursday, in Kansas City, a 16 year old boy ended up at the wrong address by mistake trying to pick up his younger siblings. He rang the doorbell. The homeowner shot him in the head. He is, miraculously, alive and recovering.

Yesterday, in Texas, a group of high school cheerleaders stopped at a grocery store on their way home. One of them opened the door to the wrong car by mistake, realized her mistake, and quickly retreated and found her friends car nearby. The man in the car followed her and shot at the group. 2 were shot. One remains hospitalized.

In less than a week- 3 people, doing normal, nonmalicious, nonthreatening, everyday things. Turning around in a driveway, ringing the wrong doorbell, going up to the wrong car by mistake. And with no escalation, no warning, it turns to gun fire.

It's a terrible intersection of easy access to firearms and an entitlement to use violence against others. All 3 of these recent incidents were so unprovoked and unjustifiable, and the core thread remains the same.

A man who felt entitled to use violence and had the means to do so with a firearm.

I don't even know what to say.

[nando161mando]

Don't know what to even say

[elbiotipo]

Even if you're a believer or not, there is such a thing as "Christian mythology", there is a body of narratives, themes, legends, folklore, beings, traditions and more that are really interesting and compelling to learn about, again, even if you're a believer on them or not.

Many people raised in Christian-influenced societies don't know about this because 1) they think of Christianity as the "default", so they don't realize it has its own unique traditions like any other religion and 2) lately, the most popular branch of Christianity is prosperity gospel self-help GOD WANTS YOU TO HAVE A NEW CAR type of stuff which has the depth of an infomercial.

[royaltea000]

Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me ;)

[charliejaneanders]

America’s collective decision in the 20th century to make cars and the roads serving them the bedrock of all urban and regional planning will go down in history as just another of our nation’s awful, ruinous ideas that we nevertheless clung to for generations, like slavery or lead paint.

Cars Have Fucked Up This Country Bad

[rjalker]

All speed limits need to be lowered and people need to be trained not to be in a fucking rush all the time. You fuckers are in a car. I promise you wherever you're going you're going to get there faster than I will on foot. You get to sit in air conditioning and heating. You are not getting rained or snowed on. You can sit for thirty fucking seconds to let me cross the street without trying to run me over.

These fuckers could wait a whole five minutes to let people use crosswalks and they'd still get wherever they're going faster, in more comfort, in more safety, than pedestrians. But if you ask them to wait literally just fifteen fucking seconds to let people cross the street, and they'll flip out like it's the end of the world.

[isa-ah]

the exhausting slog of listening to anecdotal horror stories where rednecks are continually villified even if they dont do anything. "he was just so creepy... one of those fat mullet redneck types" ok and? ok and? and? ok? and the premise of the story is he smiled at you in passing? ok? and? there was one by someone who lived in the same kind of area i grew up but they were very proud to say they were middle class so you can imagine how many digs they took at the broke people around them that are systemically left to rot by the government. wow he only had two teeth? and theyre brown? are you going to step down out of your gold plated horse drawn carriage to pay for this man to go to a dentist? bc he sure as fuck couldnt afford to even if he wanted to. oh that guys fat? hes fat AND he has a mullet? doesnt he know only skinny middle class gen z kids are allowed to have those? what a disgusting perv. dont even get me started on old men who, oh god. wear flannel and have a truck. jesus fucking christ put them down already

[intheholler]

Kentucky, 1949

[bigmeatpete69420]

Hello please please please

Never drive drunk high or under great emotional distress it is not worth it

Pull over catch your breath call your buddy

Anything

Please be safe out there

[finds-vibes-and-culture]

🖕

[variousqueerthings]

u know having done a fair bit of volunteering and organising, i do think. that sometimes. if you want something to be better within your specific community, especially marginalised communities. you have to step up and be involved in it. complaining about something being too small or not having the organisational backbone or not offering enough services, etcetc. i can guarantee that a large amount of the time you are looking at like 2-6 people who are doing all of this work for free (who are often spending their own money that they may not have a lot of) to make something happen and they only have the time and the energy and the ability that they have and if something has to pivot last minute, they will not have the financial and networking support to simply shift into another gear. these are the resources that exist, we can only do what they allow

every single event and charity and support service ive been involved in, somebody has complained -- about this space being smaller than the last space, about that being further away than it used to be, about something taking too long, or x resources not existing, ive had trans people show up to a trans community event 30mins before it was open and complain that it was badly organised because nobody let them in, ive had people say they demand more of this or that or less of that and this, this kind of group, that kind of event. and those people have always been people who are benefiting from these spaces and are not giving back to those spaces. they only think about what they're owed, not about what they owe in return, what their own responsibilities are

not everyone can be an organiser, but trust that there is always something that can be done to take the weight off of especially a smaller organisation that has come out of a need. and if you're not helping to carry some of that weight, do not complain, because those 2-6 people who are spending so much time and energy and money and soul on creating something that you are gaining from are closer to quitting than you might think and then who's gonna carry it? the people who were spending all their time complaining and doing nothing? good luck. hope people don't complain

tbh a lot of the time it's even enough to just go to your local community events and acknowledge the hard work put into them. we need people to come to them so we can keep doing them -- often you'll organise something that there is a wish for and people will treat it as more of a "ah well if i feel like it on the day" type thing than a community responsibility, part of what you're giving back in this contract. your tiny local pride could get 10 people or it could get 100 people there and its future funds may depend on the number. your community political meeting cannot organise without people there showing that they care. this panel or arts or research event is for you and it's also for you to give a shit about

but also. volunteer. and don't complain if you're not there with a solution and a hand. step up for your community on a local level