As we enter day #59 or so of the gushing oil, I am in gloom over our addiction to the car. The car and the way of life it created, from accessible-only-by-freeway suburban tract housing to the smogged urban landscape, was imposed on us by Mr. Henry Ford, who squelched and destroyed the railroads and any hope for public transportation in this country.
Living in Manhattan has allowed me to give up the car. I don't put myself on a pedestal because if I lived anywhere else, I too would need a car. When I lived in California, Long Island, and elsewhere, I couldn't do the simplest errand without enriching the oil companies and polluting the air.
Now, like children fed only McDonald's, we as a society are hopelessly addicted. From our infrastructure to our culture, the car is our glue. To break free of the hold of oil on our lives will require nothing less than a completely new paradigm.
I love these paintings, Walt.
ReplyDeleteAs for cars, since moving to Florida seven years ago, I have to drive everywhere, and although it's nice to have a car (as I was without one for most of the 27 years I lived in Manhattan), I prefer to walk to places like I used to in NY. There is nothing remotely within walking distance of me, other than a parking lot and some trees. I so miss my old Union Square neighborhood! The zoning boards in suburban Palm Beach County were not very socially conscious or prescient when they created all of these gated communities near nothing.
Manhattan: My apartment was a 5-minute walk from the Union Square Farmer's Market, where I could buy locally grown organic produce four days a week.
ReplyDeleteSarasota: My apartment was an 8-minute drive from Jessica's Organic Farm, where I loaded up on locally grown produce plus refrigerated organic nuts and seeds every weekend, and a 20-minute drive from a store that carried all the raw vegan ingredients I needed.
Boynton Beach: My condo is a 20-minute drive from a market that sells a larger variety of organic produce than the supermarket does, and a 20 minute drive from a regional supermarket that carries the same, and a 40-minute drive from a store that carries raw vegan ingredients and a 1-hour drive from an even better store, ditto.
So, since 2003, I seem to have moved further away from the food I need with each move.