Deadpan9 is saying why westerners actually want cars, despite the cost, despite the risk to life, despite how much it dumps carbon into the atmosphere, because they imagine "cars = freedom." Which is totally idealist, any analysis based in material reality would point you to mass transit or bikes if you value materialism-based freedom. If you think "freedom" exists as a platonic ideal then of course you come up with "and that means having to pay a private insurer for shit healthcare means I'm actually freer - same with needing to buy a car, repair and maintain it and my private expense, insure it because of how catastrophic accidents with it are at high cost because of how common traffic accidents are, etc, I can in principle just drive until I need more gas so I am free."
There's little that gives you as clear an insight into people thinking goverment and business are some totally unrelated entities which have no bearing on each other has the whole cars = freedom thing.
Deadpan9 is saying why westerners actually want cars, despite the cost, despite the risk to life, despite how much it dumps carbon into the atmosphere, because they imagine "cars = freedom." Which is totally idealist, any analysis based in material reality would point you to mass transit or bikes if you value materialism-based freedom. If you think "freedom" exists as a platonic ideal then of course you come up with "and that means having to pay a private insurer for shit healthcare means I'm actually freer - same with needing to buy a car, repair and maintain it and my private expense, insure it because of how catastrophic accidents with it are at high cost because of how common traffic accidents are, etc, I can in principle just drive until I need more gas so I am free."
There's little that gives you as clear an insight into people thinking goverment and business are some totally unrelated entities which have no bearing on each other has the whole cars = freedom thing.