They were never on the hook anyhow. Isolated individuals have no responsibility for utilizing whatever transportation is most useful and enjoyable for the isolated individual.
On 6 Sep 2006 at 16:39, Doug Henwood wrote:
So forget that Prius, and buy a Hummer! And the hell with the train - always drive!! Carrol sez it's ok.
I thought you were hostile to the idea that individual actions, like not buying food from McDonalds or not buying Nikes were of any significant consequence Doug?
Is gasoline somehow different from shoes?
In a sense I agree with Carrol but hesitantly. If every Hummer in the hands of consumers (excluding actual military vehicles) were magically transformed into a Prius the reduction in the amount of gasoline consumed in the US would not be noticeable to oil companies nor would the total amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere be noticeably reduced.
I don't think that necessarily absolves a Hummer buyer from all the consequences of that decision. I believe people need to think of how their consumption choices affect everyone else. If everyone drove something akin to a Hummer that decision would be far less sustainable than the current unsustainable mess. Understanding the collective impact of individual decisions is necessary if we are ever to reach the mindset necessary for the collective actions needed to resolve the environmental problems we face.
Since the Hummer buyer is not generally aware of the collective impact of their decision and has not been conditioned to thinking in those terms getting that person to come to an understanding of such would have to be more important than chastizing them for their poor consumption choice. If people do not understand the impact of their choices how can they be held truly accountable for those choices? Equally their are systemic barriers to making good consumption choices and removing those is also necessary before any blaming for poor consumption choices can be considered very constructive.
John Thornton