lngarner

Hello. Yes please.

Interesting!

The government shuts down roads all the time. Amtrack is a federally-owned company. It belongs to you and me. Corporations don't -- and they only want your money. That's capitalism. I'd rather be using something I already pay for and belongs to me. In Europe, trains are affordable. And in many cases, the prices are offset by taxpayer (i.e. the collective/democracy)'s funding. So the trains belong to the people.

If you are handicapped you can't drive. If you have Alzheimers you shouldn't be driving. Any physical or mental reason -- i.e. sickness -- that makes it unsafe to drive removes your independence in the event you are solely dependent on cars to get from place to place.

The government who built the roads without any means of non-car transportation makes you just as reliant on them -- AND the car companies. I'd rather be reliant on collective benefit rather than a corporation who doesn't care if my car is broken down or I'm old and can't drive or I'm physically incapable of driving. All they want is my money. With public/non-car transportation people have the actual freedom. Reliance on corporations is the opposite.

You can only be independent if you are physically and mentally capable of driving a car, have the financial resources to do so. If you're sick or don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars per month for transportation, then you're not independent. And if your car breaks down, you're not independent. Affordable public transport and trains etc provide true freedom. For example, there's much more freedom to travel in Europe.

Completely dependent on driving is the key here. We're completely beholden to corporations and dangerous, dirty machines to conduct virtually every aspect of daily life -- if you're physically, financially, and legally able to do so. It doesn't have to be this way. Cars suck.

What do you think? And have you used ChatGPT for something like this?

Let us know what you think!