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ChineseThink Tank Offers Six (6) Compelling Reasons To Avoid The Car-Free Lifestyle!
Image courtesy of Steven Vance via Flickr. Remixed under Creative Commons.
Rain!
Heavy grocery bags!
Nighttime!
Like a late-night infomercial extolling the horrible alternatives to life without the pitchman’s product, an article published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) presents these as just a few of the unexpected hardships one might encounter while getting around without a car. The article brings these issues to light just before World Carfree Day, an informal worldwide “celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars” that takes place on September 22nd. The free-market think tank admits the event is likely “harmless” but fears that an uninformed populace may be fooled by the disingenuous images that sugar-coat car-free living and may eventually influence policy-makers “to use taxes, fees, zoning restrictions and other regulations to make owning one’s own car more difficult and expensive”.
In a classic reality-check, CEI asks those who may be considering a car-free lifestyle to try living without a car under the following conditions before buying a bike and a TAP card (picture these in black and white with actors struggling way too hard):
- When it’s raining
- When you’re carrying several bags of groceries
- When you’re carrying a baby, with a toddler alongside you
- On crutches
- After midnight
- Without using a car or cab to get to the train or bus station
- Any combination of the above
With so many compelling reasons, how can I not ACT NOW! and order a car in the next 15 minutes? Check out CEI’s Anti-”World Carfree Day” video from last year for more infomercial caliber nonsense. In the spirit of the free-market, I wonder if there are any solutions to these problems that are low-cost, offer freedom of choice, and let citizens avoid costly tax-payer funded infrastructure projects like our nations autoroads?
An umbrella comes to mind for the rain problem. Any others we can send to CEI?
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Driving today? Watch out for the Car-Free Enforcer.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/dc-car-free-day-22-september-2009/
Why the artificial restriction of no cabs to airport or train station? It’s a valid method of public transportation for people living without cars. It’s like telling vegetarians that they should avoid eating beans because it contains protein…
If you watch the YouTube video linked in the article there’s more ridiculousness… they imply hypocrisy on the part of the car-free because so many products and services we rely on are transported with motor vehicles. I suppose we are hypocrites for riding buses too because in a way they are just big cars. Clearly, this “think tank” doesn’t do much thinking. The irony is that much of the car-free movement is about they very “freedom of choice” CEI claims to defend.