PedestrianError

@blarghly @miss_demeanour Certainly there are many examples of middle class people who are living beyond their means and the planet's at the same time, but their overconsumption is child's play in the grand scheme of things. We can encourage people to consume less (I certainly share your disgust with car/monster truck culture, fast fashion and fast food) without insisting anyone struggling in this shit society is a dumbass.

@blarghly @miss_demeanour This kind of animosity within the working classes (including the relatively privileged middle class) is exactly what the oligarchs want. If you're busy casting aspersions at couples earning $75k each in New York City who probably don't own a car much less a pavement princess and are struggling to
keep up with the bills their parents were easily able to afford, you're looking away from how a handful of billionaires are dismantling the country and trashing the planet.

@gurnu @WorldsDumbestMan Misogyny is part of why so many men buy oversized cars and drive them aggressively. Find a better insult that actually focuses shame on the person behaving badly.

@Davriellelouna People who choose to live in the suburbs should be limited to working in the suburbs. No writing for a big city paper, making policy decisions for the city as an employee or consultant, policing the city, acting in downtown theaters, displaying your art in downtown galleries, even working in downtown banks. If you love suburbs and suburban lifestyles so much, marry them and don't stray from them.

@pc486 @Duamerthrax Parking does degrade though. Lots need resurfacing and sometimes stabilization to prevent sinkholes and garages can collapse altogether. We're already starting to see serious structural problems with decks built in the mid-late 20th century that are buckling from a combination of age, lack of maintenance, and not anticipating that they'd be filled with oversized SUVs and pickup trucks, many with electric batteries making them even heavier.

@humanspiral @schnurrito The entire society is not conditioned to need a car. In many large US cities, particularly those that were built mostly before freeways and minimum parking requirements, around 30% of households don't own cars. A massive PR campaign by the auto industry, combined with classism and racism, has convinced much of the middle class that everyone needs a car, but statistically that belief is not supported. Even in rural areas about 7% of households are carless.

@humanspiral @Taldan Micromobility has little to do with it. There always have been large numbers of people in cities who get around by walking, transit, and sometimes their own bicycle. Policies decided largely by suburbanites and influenced by the fossil fuel and oil lobbies have long sought to chip away at our ability to travel freely without consuming their products. Some of the tech disrupters have made it trendier for yuppies to ditch cars, but they haven't significantly changed modeshare.

@makyo @kresten The "data" used to create most residential parking mandates was collected in car-dependent suburban areas and is completely inappropriate for application to dense urban apartment buildings near transit where many residents don't own cars. Eliminating the costly mandate to construct parking that often goes unused on valuable land only restores choice. A developer isn't prohibited from building as much parking as their market research tells them they can profitably sell or lease.

@destructdisc @BilboBargains Unfortunately, public transportation is one of the many public goods that has been in decline for decades due to neglect by both major political parties in the US and is now getting absolutely demolished under the new fascist regime, and people who walk and cycle have also had targets painted on our backs by hatemongers. We need to fight more actively than ever for our freedom to travel freely by the mode of our choosing.

@destructdisc @BilboBargains Our culture normalizes constant car use in so many ways, from how retailers and professional services offices give directions to their businesses to what is shown and how in pop culture. People for whom everyday car use has become normalized often just need to hear alternative voices consistently and persistently for a while to realize that they can and should at least reduce if not eliminate their car use.

@destructdisc @BilboBargains Yes. We can show compassion without indulging the habit and certainly without caving to their demands that everyone else live in a world designed to cater to their addiction. If your sibling is an alcoholic, you might only invite them to your home for an alcohol-free party. If they're a car addict, you can invite them but make clear there isn't space to park their SUV and give them transit and/or bike directions.

@Tattorack @Davriellelouna Trump himself is completely out to lunch. He doesn't know what his own policies are, only that he's been told that whatever he just signed will make him look powerful and manly. The handlers running his accounts are just having fun knowing they can make abundantly clear that the dictator has no idea what's going on and civil society is (for now) powerless to do anything. That can only go on for so long...