<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 5.5.2650.12"> <TITLE>RE: why cars suck (was: car-free Europe)</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> > I passionately hate cars. > Here is the list of all 10 reasons: And an excellent list it is, Wojtek.  Couple of comments: > 1.  Alienation - i hate sitting in a tin box, separated from > other people After two decades of daily commuting on the Long Island Rail Road, I can attest that sitting in a tin box *in close proximity* to other people can unfortunately be pretty alienating, too -- a more humdrum version of all the strains that being a US citizen presents.  You start feeling this free-floating rancor toward your fellow commuters, e.g.:  "How can you people be such sheep and take this crappy service day after day?" That said, I far prefer the LIRR to commuting on the Long Island Expressway because the latter is, as you point out, a  > Waste of time - you cannot do anything else while (like reading or > writing or simply relaxing) when you are driving. I once tried listening to a book on tape during a long car trip.  It was a novel by John Le Carre, narrated by the author himself, and he did a fine job.  But after taking the whole damn thing in, I realized I had no impression whatsoever of the book.  In fact, I can no longer recall its title. > 10. Cars are the main factor behind the demise of rail-based > transportation > - perhaps the most civilised form of transportation ever invented. My dim opinion of the LIRR notwithstanding, I agree with you here.  And to get really nostalgic about it (at the risk of giving J. Heartfield apoplexy), I have to say I consider steam locomotives the only really beautiful machines ever created. Carl </BODY> </HTML>