Was the car a positive or negative development for society?

submitted by Ponderer from self.debatealtright

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[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I personally agree with Tolkien on the subject. Cars aren't bad in and of themselves, but when everybody and their grandma has one, then there is a problem.

[–]Ponderer[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I like that take. I call it a "problem of scale", basically when something isn't bad in and of itself, but becomes bad when everyone does it.

For example, fishing isn't bad. But if too many people fish too much, the natural supply of fish is exhausted. There are plenty of things like this, and people portray the original thing as a problem, when in reality it's just the amount of people doing it, which is much more subtle and harder to blame.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, that's basically the view. Now, I also believe that cars could be done away with, and we could all be using single-person drone-pods and improve that technology until we have Luke's speeder from Star Wars, while also pulling back and relying more on animals that can pull wagons and trailers. I think cars should be replaced by multiple other things, some old, some new. Edit: I'm an idealist on this front.