> But also we have a serious problem where taking away someone's license to drive is to sentence them to poverty if not homelessness and starvation.
This is why I always get uncomfortable about people saying things like "seniors should not be allowed to drive". They get the part about it being a safety risk, but then the suggestion of increasing the availability of public transit is, like you say, "communism" and "an attack on businesses".
Just today, I communistically attacked a business by walking to it, which communistically saved a parking spot for someone who would have a hard time walking there, necessitating them driving.
In all seriousness, the freedom of walking and being able to interact with the environment outweighs the "freedom" of going long distances in a vehicle.
I have this weird optimism about the decline you are talking about: that somehow a new, more thoughtful, culture will arise from the ashes. One that is less concerned with monetary profit and more concerned with social profit. It does suck that there will be so much suffering and still no guarantee that any such culture arises, but I do have a tendency to smoke hopium until I am comatose.
This is why I always get uncomfortable about people saying things like "seniors should not be allowed to drive". They get the part about it being a safety risk, but then the suggestion of increasing the availability of public transit is, like you say, "communism" and "an attack on businesses".
Just today, I communistically attacked a business by walking to it, which communistically saved a parking spot for someone who would have a hard time walking there, necessitating them driving.
In all seriousness, the freedom of walking and being able to interact with the environment outweighs the "freedom" of going long distances in a vehicle.
I have this weird optimism about the decline you are talking about: that somehow a new, more thoughtful, culture will arise from the ashes. One that is less concerned with monetary profit and more concerned with social profit. It does suck that there will be so much suffering and still no guarantee that any such culture arises, but I do have a tendency to smoke hopium until I am comatose.