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Because, we've given up our freedom to choose how we want to get around for our daily activities. Outside of that handful of places, you NEED an automobile to live comfortably.
Not true at all. There are millions of acres of land that you can farm and live like people did 150 years ago... with no automobiles at all.
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There are many places in the US where one doesn't need an air conditioner. There are certainly fewer places where one doesn't need heat. But weather is a force of nature; paved roads are not.
I really don't care if it's a force of nature or not. That's meaningless. The fact is, as a country we are dependent on both heaters and air conditioners. We are slaves to HVAC.
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There is plenty of open land for those who would choose to grow their own food.
True, and you can live without a car on that open land. Most of us CHOOSE to not grow our own food and live without an automobile.
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Not everyone wants to (or even can, in my case) depend on a car to maintain a decent quality of life. So, why have we built so much of our infrastructure in such a way that a car is required for a decent quality of life?
Our automobile infrastructure is just fine with me. It meets all of my transportation needs and is quite affordable.
Not everyone wants to depend on farmers for their food. We are slaves to farmers. Why have we built a food infrastructure that requires almost all of us to be dependent on farmers?
Can't live without AC? Do you know the percentage of people in the world who live without it and apparently live just fine? I remember first time I went to Finland, I stayed at a decent hotel in Helsinki and it had no AC, I guess I am still alive!
The context of this thread is the USA, not the entire world.
And I said "very few of us can live without HVAC" and "heat and AC" includes both. Read more carefully.
Luxury is relative. What in XVII century England was luxury is just a convenience in XXI century America. And no, European cars come with AC's as well
Correct.
And there are plenty of obese Europeans. There are plenty of lazy Europeans. There are plenty of Europeans dependent on automobiles. They don't all fit the model many on this board like to portray.
And there are plenty of obese Europeans. There are plenty of lazy Europeans. There are plenty of Europeans dependent on automobiles. They don't all fit the model many on this board like to portray.
Please name one European city where people depend on automobiles, I am waiting!
If there is one thing about this country that makes absolutely no sense is this stupid, lazy, car-centric culture.
After having spent sometime in Europe, it is really hard to become one of the sheep- so I ride my bicycle to work everyday and there is nothing better!
I was comparing obesity rates in countries like Germany and the Netherlands-where walking and riding a bicycle is widespread and they are about 10%. The United States will have obesity rate of 75% by the year 2020.
Something has definitely gone wrong here!
I see you prefer to live in a city. Many of us don't prefer to live in a cement jungle. But if you vote for Obama you might get your wish. Obama wants the suburbs wealth to pay for the cities so he intends to redistribute it by doing a couple of things. One is to have the cities absorb the suburbs and be called regions, so they can get their hands on the suburb's tax dollars and access to their good schools and the second thing he wants to do is make it difficult/expensive to drive forcing more suburban people to move to the cities where their jobs are located. Another thing he plans to do is require new developments to have low income housing making it less desirable to live in suburbia if you escaped the city for a better/different way of life.
This is why he has to go on Election Day. It's not enough to take away your food choices and your energy choices but he thinks the government should dictate your living choices, too, to fulfill his redistribution of wealth socialist values. Building One America...laying low until after the election.
I happen to enjoy driving. City people expect everything to come to them (entertainment, shopping, dining, meetings, etc.) but suburbanites and rural people drive to the things they desire to see and do. Like the media that doesn't have a clue about what's important to people outside of major cities neither do most city dwellers who think they can make decisions for the rest of us based on their chosen way of life which is based on the way the big city media portrays our way of life and groupthink of insulated city dwellers. The media urban elitists have already deemed city life "better" and it doesn't matter if it's liberal or conservative media. I bet I see more of this country and meet more different people than you do simply because I have to get in my car to do and see things. It's easier for me to casually drive to North Carolina or Kentucky than it is for people from NYC to drive to suburban New Jersey. You guys in the big cities are bubble boys. You all think the same and hold your nose when it comes to suburban and rural life. That's why traditional ideas from the Tea Party, for example, seem radical to you.
The need for AC is just like the need for automobiles. People lived for centuries without either.
True. But then construction was wood and there were plenty of trees for ventilation and shade. Now the concrete buildings and asphalt roadways are heatsinks which magnify the Summer heat. The wide roadways and adjacent commercial development means there is no to minimal shading over the sidewalks.
A person would be a fool to be walking on a Miami sidewalk in August between 10:00am to 3:00pm.
I was there in July. Temperatures were in the upper 70's.
In July, temperatures where I live were in the lower 100's. I suspect that for the Finnish people, day after day of 100+ temps would be disastrous. Not being acclimated to such temps, and with such limited access to a/c, people would suffer from heat exhaustion and some might even die.
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There are certainly fewer places where one doesn't need heat. But weather is a force of nature; paved roads are not.
