On Sep 6, 2006, at 5:29 PM, jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> On Sep 6, 2006, at 4:13 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> 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.
Individuals can't change things radically, but Carrol's position is typically rigidly extreme. It would make a difference if people rode the train more and drove responsible cars. As I recall, if fuel economy in the US had maintained its improving trend from the 1970s and early 1980s through the 1990s, instead of being undone by the SUV craze, we'd be saving the equivalent of Mexico's total output in oil. That's not going to stop environmental catastrophe, but it's not nothing either.
I'm getting soft in my old age.
Doug