Liz

They will eventually change the default to “on.”

I love this thing too hell and back. This is exactly what I want in a car/truck.

Yeah it would require a significant redesign of some poorly planned areas.

Man, I guess there’s no point in even trying to improve the system if there’s going to be opposition.

I will advocate to replace it when I’m in office and a Democrat, against the protests of some of my co-workers. As the other commenter pointed out, Newsom killed an anti-FPTP bill, but that means there’s enough support in the California legislature to get a bill to his desk.

I hold no illusions that fixing one aspect of this flawed existence will fix all the other aspects of this flawed existence.

Fair fair!

I mean, I want to replace FPTP though. Any kind of proportional system is ideal, but Sequential Proportional Approval Voting is ideal.

You would probably have a small flatbed for your business, or rent one from a local, as needed. But it sounds like you have enough need that owning a vehicle would be worth it. I would imagine that, in practice, gaining access to a vehicle would be a business perk, kind of like how a lot of micro businesses will be generous with what they consider to be a business expense for tax purposes. Also, sure, in reality farm equipment would probably be exempt.

Anyway, society is filled with rules and design choices that create winners and losers. Right now, with the current motor vehicle standard, many people gain the convenience of having a car or truck for personal use. But it means we have to spend a lot on roads to carry all the extra traffic, lots of people die in accidents, we’re polluting the air, we’re dumping rubber into the soil and water (from tires), we’re living more sedentary lifestyles, etc. Whenever someone purposes a change to society’s rules, it is very common for people to only think of the current positives and the potential negatives, while ignoring the current negatives and potential positives.

Not that this proposal is ever gonna fucking happen.

The town planning and public transit options would be absurdly different, were private ownership of motor vehicles actually outlawed. The bus stop would be a lot closer. There’d be more buses. There would be dedicated, protected bike lanes that got plowed immediately in the snow. The sidewalks would be plowed by the city. Etc.

The US homesteading is not the standard in a lot of places. Loads of places put all the houses together in a little village and the farmers go out to the fields instead of living isolated at their farm. Also, you have to remember that if we actually did outlaw private motor vehicle ownership, commercial transportation would explode. Much, much smaller towns would have access to regular bus and train schedules. Furthermore, the business landscape would change and your standard stores would again be more accessible in smaller towns.

Would there be some disadvantages? Absolutely. Would there be some advantages? Absolutely.

I consider the advantages to be more than worth it, even in the more trying situations.

Honestly, personal ownership of cars should just straight-up be illegal. Commercial vehicles are fine.

The California High Speed Rail Songin my ass.

It’s not an overpass. A loose brick falls off a truck going in the opposite direction, bounces off the pavement once, then goes through the windshield.

Edit: oh hurray, there’s two different brick videos.

Whoops. Point still stands.

I wish I had enough money to buy 25 acres without a clear idea of what to do with it.

It’s from this year.

https://delta.tudelft.nl/en/article/a-no-thank-you-to-the-person-who-assumed-i-was-the-coffee-lady

Taiwan?

Yeah that touchscreen tablet convertible machine is what has me psyched. I’m not the target for it, and already own a 16, but I could see that thing selling well. I honestly think they came out with the desktop because they just kinda felt they needed a desktop.

Here’s the thing, we scientists need our cheerleaders. We spend our time getting good at doing science, so it’s worth it to hire someone who is good at hyping and advocating for our work. Go listen to the recordings of James Webb trying to explain to JFK that we need to do a shit-ton of science before we can get to the moon. JFK just plain doesn’t understand the magnitude of what he’s asking for. He thinks we could do it in 6 months. This lady is our champion.