For example, the government makes a top down decision to heavily invest in cheap or entirely free public transport, invest heavily in cycling infrastructure, ensures urban planning means that (where possible) you’re never more than a short bicycle ride away from a supermarket (so called 5 minute cities), does its best to ensure it’s affordable to live near your work, bans cars from city centres (with obvious exceptions), increases taxation on fuel, and increases taxation on new vehicles.
Perfectly feasible, because it’s been done in plenty of countries and cities. Vastly better for the environment and much more efficient too, because the population isn’t wasting so much time and money driving from point A to B. People are invariably much happier, because they get more exercise, waste less of their lives in traffic, aren’t wasting money on car ownership, and suffer less from the effects of air and noise pollution. Unsurprisingly, once instituted this kind of thing invariably enjoys majority democratic support.
The polar opposite of the US, where the car industry had and still has a disproportionate influence on politics, and very unpopular there in large part because of propaganda, which has given Americans the illusion of choice; they have been invariably been robbed of the choice to live near their work or spend less time in traffic, but instead get to choose which overpriced car they are forced to buy due to corporate influenced government rule.
I’m tired, but you get the idea.
It’s also important to realise, that a lot of these kinds of policies, aren’t actually unpopular when they’re done well. People like walking, cycling, breathing fresh air, loads of trees, nature, etc. It’s a bit of a joke that Americans return home from their holiday in Europe, feeling healthier and having lost weight. Not being stuck in your car all day is good for you.
For example, the government makes a top down decision to heavily invest in cheap or entirely free public transport, invest heavily in cycling infrastructure, ensures urban planning means that (where possible) you’re never more than a short bicycle ride away from a supermarket (so called 5 minute cities), does its best to ensure it’s affordable to live near your work, bans cars from city centres (with obvious exceptions), increases taxation on fuel, and increases taxation on new vehicles.
Perfectly feasible, because it’s been done in plenty of countries and cities. Vastly better for the environment and much more efficient too, because the population isn’t wasting so much time and money driving from point A to B. People are invariably much happier, because they get more exercise, waste less of their lives in traffic, aren’t wasting money on car ownership, and suffer less from the effects of air and noise pollution. Unsurprisingly, once instituted this kind of thing invariably enjoys majority democratic support.
The polar opposite of the US, where the car industry had and still has a disproportionate influence on politics, and very unpopular there in large part because of propaganda, which has given Americans the illusion of choice; they have been invariably been robbed of the choice to live near their work or spend less time in traffic, but instead get to choose which overpriced car they are forced to buy due to corporate influenced government rule. I’m tired, but you get the idea.
It’s also important to realise, that a lot of these kinds of policies, aren’t actually unpopular when they’re done well. People like walking, cycling, breathing fresh air, loads of trees, nature, etc. It’s a bit of a joke that Americans return home from their holiday in Europe, feeling healthier and having lost weight. Not being stuck in your car all day is good for you.