Car Culture
Personal Automobile Supremacy
Today, the United States, home to some 307 million people, has 210 million licensed drivers and some 246 million registered automobiles, which comes to 1.2 cars for every registered driver. We have more cars today, the United States, home to some 307 million people, has 210 million licensed drivers and some 246 million registered automobiles, which comes to 1.2 cars for every registered driver. We have more cars on the road than any other country in the world; even China with its more than one billion people barely tips the scales at 170 million cars. The United States has roughly 800 cars for every thousand people—including the 70 or so million who are too young, too old, too ill (such as epileptics) or are legally blind, and thus can’t drive. China, by contrast, has a mere 128 cars for every thousand people. On both an absolute and a per capita basis, we have more cars than any other country in the world. And, not only do we have more cars, but they pollute more than those of other nations as well. Although we are just 3 percent of the world’s population, we own 30 percent of the world’s cars, which account for 45 percent of global automotive greenhouse gas emissions.8rs on the road than any other country in the world; even China with its more than one billion people barely tips the scales at 170 million cars. The United States has roughly 800 cars for every thousand people—including the 70 or so million who are too young, too old, too ill (such as epileptics) or are legally blind, and thus can’t drive. China, by contrast, has a mere 128 cars for every thousand people. On both an absolute and a per capita basis, we have more cars than any other country in the world. And, not only do we have more cars, but they pollute more than those of other nations as well. Although we are just 3 percent of the world’s population, we own 30 percent of the world’s cars, which account for 45 percent of global automotive greenhouse gas emissions.
Yet, even as we choke on the detritus of automobile culture, the public discussion rarely questions the supremacy of cars as our principal form of transit. On the contrary, with the exception of a few urban centers—most notably New York City, where less than half of all households own cars—mass transit is often dismissed as a European or Japanese ideal because, supposedly, the US doesn’t have the population density to support an extensive transit system. However, Russia—the world’s largest country by size—somehow manages to have a mere 213 cars per thousand inhabitants. Similarly, in Canada, with roughly a tenth of the population of the United States and a landmass that rivals our own sprawling nation, there are a mere 563 cars per 1000 inhabitants, roughly 25 percent fewer than in the US.Yet, even as we choke on the detritus of automobile culture, the public discussion rarely questions the supremacy of cars as our principal form of transit. On the contrary, with the exception of a few urban centers—most notably New York City, where less than half of all households own cars—mass transit is often dismissed as a European or Japanese ideal because, supposedly, the US doesn’t have the population density to support an extensive transit system. However, Russia—the world’s largest country by size—somehow manages to have a mere 213 cars per thousand inhabitants. Similarly, in Canada, with roughly a tenth of the population of the United States and a landmass that rivals our own sprawling nation, there are a mere 563 cars per 1000 inhabitants, roughly 25 percent fewer than in the US.
The only thing that has forced us take even a sidelong glance at our car culture is oil. Not the 93 people on average killed every day, the 34,000 people killed every year, in car accidents across the United States. Not the additional 30,000 people who die every year from the noxious mix of nitrous oxides, lead, and cancer causing particulate matter that comprise car exhaust. Not the fact that the number of people that cars kill every year is equal to two times the population of Burlington, Vermont, or is roughly twenty-times the number of people killed in the Twin Towers on September 11. Only oil, with its ever unpredictable price at the pump and, even more importantly, its detrimental effects on the environment, has finally forced us to question our car habit…at least a little.[1]
Capitalist Alienation
Corporations' Contributions
Sources
- ↑ Pierre-Louis, K. (2012). Green washed: why we can't buy our way to a green planet. Brooklyn, Ig Pub.