As a male, I can confirm I changed the physical appearance of my car, (and subsequently peoples perception of me) by removing its existence from my life.
I always felt alienated by the interest so many people in Texas have in cars. Even as a kid, I didn't really care. Aside from monster trucks and hot wheels when I was around four to seven and aside from concept cars, though that's because it was an abstract idea involving technology that felt different. It's like sports. It just doesn't interest me.🤷♂And around 2017, I didn't even want a car. They're dangerous, require a lot of attention and energy, and are incredibly expensive.
Yeah car dependency hurts us economically, socially, health wise & environmentally as well. The reason why the US is in a housing crisis is due to single family zoning & parking minimums (plus the lack of public housing as well). It’s also plays a massive factor as to why so many are dealing with isolation/loneliness cuz everything is too damn spread out & car dependency hurts working class people. It’s nuts that cars are viewed as a symbol of social status cuz they’re a financial liability.
Get well soon! I grew up in Moscow, Russia, a well-developed city, and I am so used to public transport that I see cars as something that limits freedom-something you don't really use unless you are transporting a lot of stuff to a big distance. It's a necessity for people who have a lot of things rather than something meaningful and useful for me. But of course, I have rarely felt unsafe on public transport (only in the US).
Growing up in a highly congested city, the idea of cars as a means of freedom seem so laughable for me. But I do have an affinity towards cars almost like a work of art. I watch a lot of car reviews mostly just to admire the shape and design. That said, public transportation is the king of the road and I support every policy that makes it harder to own a car.
I was once in NYC with my then-boss (I was a PA at the time) in his SUV - we lived upstate and we'd commuted into the city for a job for the day - and we needed to get to a gas station that was 1.5 miles away to fill up the tank before leaving the city because we were nearly running on empty. It took us literally almost an hour to get 1.5 miles because of the congestion. It was one of the most absurd situations I'd ever experienced. I was losing my mind. 😂
@@zenleeparadise dude... back in my middle school days, my school was about 20 miles away and public trans weren't as good as today. So me, my sis, mom, and dad rely on car. My day started at 4 AM and if we didn't hit the road by 5.30, might as well skip school. We usually got home at 9 PM at the earliest and there was this one time when the congestion was so bad we decided stay at a hotel for the night. I still retain the good habit of waking up early so there are some positives I guess...🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@gojiplusone staying at a hotel in your own city because congestion is too bad to get home is crazy. Sounds like something out of a satire omg this gave me a good laugh. We live in such an absurd society.
Yeah, i like cars as an instrument that can help you do things other forms of transportation can't, such as off road traveling or just racing. But i yearn for a world not based around cars, i hate driving in cities, i hate how unsafe it is and all the space and noise cars take and make, plus all the harms it causes
I think that it's very interesting that you point out how for many women the car is a safe window for the outside world, while for working class and minority men it can often be a danger. I think it speaks to the various different types of oppression people from different social groups experience because of how the are perceived.
@ville-c4u lmao, how? She has had a successful channel for years with a good team and other support. You on the other hand have no content and shit post rage bait with no spelling or grammar check. I suggest you read a book on writing or something so you don't embarrass yourself so much on the internet.
@@DestinyNeoGirl TH-cam took away my post reporting privileges :( This is a known neo-nazi, so I took the time to report the whole channel a second time.
I hate SUVs and other large cars with a passion. They are oversized, heavy, dangerous (especially for the driver!) and destroy the roads/ pavements. Very aggressive looking too. Cars like the minivan or an estate are way better for utility too. The oversized vehicles just don't fit on British roads very well either, causing tons of extra traffic. Parking, forget about it. It was better when cars were smaller and looked neutral. Public transport should be the way to go and more should be done to improve their frequency in cities, suburbs and rural areas alike. A regular consistent service in my opinion does a lot to help with the need to feel safe too. Britain certainly has a lot to learn from France about public transport.
I find it crazy that my Chevy C10 which is one of the heavier vehicles that was made during its time is usually around 1000lbs lighter than most SUV's that you see on the road today.
@@lucasward9506 Yes exactly, now imagine millions more cars on the roads than when that car was brand new. With all that extra weight carried every day, no wonder the roads are broken. People say about the Roman roads lasting a long time but they'd have tons of potholes too if they had to deal with what the modern roads do. A big reason EVs aren't the solution either, as the batteries make them very heavy.
Which causes a "me vs the world" mentality. Because people tend to be "in your way" when you drive. Conversely, being public transportation is seen as limiting, for "poor people", and exposes you to people different from you and that's bad and scary of course.
When I lived in Europe I was without a car but felt more free. Being able to hop onto public transit and get wherever you need is a freedom I've almost never experienced living in North America.
I spent the first 9 months of this year with no car and relying on my e-bike, and the ONLY drivers who were aggressive towards me were men in trucks. Usually when there were multiple men in those trucks.
The car is also seen as a sign of maturity. I'm 30, I have a career as a lawyer, I've lived abroad, I own my home, I have a motorcycle with which I go on long-distance adventures - but I don't have a car licence and don't want one, so every car driver from 18 to 99 thinks I'm basically a child 😅
@K1989L I live in Germany, but it's not too snowy round here, so for the few snowy days I take the train or, worst case, a taxi. Honestly, it's great not having to spend money on a car. Insurance for my bike is 65 euros for the whole year, I pay no taxes on it and it has a super low consumption of 1.5 litres per 100 km, so it basically costs me nothing. Sadly, my public transport pass is much more expensive than the bike.
Growing up, car-ownership was seen as a status symbol, and if you didn't own a car, people looked down at you. We do live in a car-dependent society. I love cars, but car-dependency for everything has been an issue, and where im from you have to drive a car to get to point a and point b. I do see Mom SUVS lol. The popular suv with moms here are Cadillac Escalades, Lincoln Navigators, GMC Yukons, BMW X7, Audi Q7, Mercedes GL, Lexus GX etc. Good video Alice!!
Sorry to be that guy, but he also lent his credibility to the 2022 Qatar World Cup with all its human rights violations. At least that in my books, knocks him down a peg.
Having only ever seen the meme it made me think he was being more humourous in telling her to be honest but he's actually quite pissed off at her (as he should be!)
I am a massive car enthusiast, I grew up in suburban US where car dependency is at its best. when I was young and dumb it was a symbol of freedom and emotional relief. If I was having girl issues or stressed about life in general I would go for a drive in the mountains at reckless and even felony speeds. As I matured I got into racing on a track instead and it quickly became a ritual and replacement for the church I stopped believing in. I now own multiple race cars and gokarts and avoid driving on the streets as I have found that staring into someone elses brake lights isnt what i want in life. For me my cars are weapons to fight physics and the track is a holy place meant for dedication and focus. Neither of those things happen in the streets I find no joy in driving from point a to b no car could even bring that joy that's why I have relocated to a city with well rounded public transit so I can sit and day dream about the track while I commute instead of watch people nearly killing each other just to get to work on time. I am now at peace.
I could not agree more. I LOVE cars but I hate driving on the day to day, so much so I now live in a walkable city and dont own a car. But I have driven all over Europe and Africa including across the Sahara following the PariDakar rally
UK here, Not had a car in years... Living in an urban area with excellent public transport links. However an old car, say something form the mid 80's or earlier, especially it is a European car with fins and chrome, I can't help but smile. Especially if it is a normal car. Went to a classic car show, E-types are lovely, but a Hillman Imp, A 60's Ford Anglia estate or a Triumph Herald like my grandparents had, I'm oohing and ahhing like its a cute puppy! Compared to the them, these days the E-Type Jag is common as muck! Modern cars, leave me cold!
I wish car advertising was banned on the same grounds that cigarettes were. Car crashes kill 42,000 people here in America a year, and many more get injured. Then there are the long term health outcomes from the metals and toxins emitted by them, the sedentary lifestyle they contribute to, and how cars have made fast food so popular. Short of banning car ads, they should be required to show real driving conditions. The way car ads are made now, they're showing that ideal driving conditions are ones in which no other cars are around. In other words, drivers hate other drivers, yet auto makers advertise that you'll drive without other cars. Bring on the trains!
A white SUV mom hit me yesterday while on the bicycle lane, she was trying to park there! Guess what bozos with how huge these things are you won't be finding parking spots!
And guess what, they complain to the authorities that parking spaces are too small. Even though they knew how big a standard spot is yet they decided to buy a tank-like car regardless. Now they're expecting the infrastructure to accomodate the ridiculous trend. Of course disregarding the fact that making spaces bigger makes it so there's less of them unless we start demoloshing half of the city for parking like they did in many cities in the US. I saw people in their huge SUVs driving deeper into the space so that they could even open their door and leave the car, of course blocking the cars on their sides from being accessible to their owners.
The intimacy /private space point is a good one and I think something I've taken for granted. Is it at the expense of our connection with others, given how cars isolate ourselves from each other, and turn other drivers into less-human obstacles in the way of our journey?
And this obsession is killing us in so many ways: car drivers physically killing people, respiratory issues caused by people growing up in/living in car dependent areas, climate change brought about by car emissions, the urban sprawl leading to less walkability and more sedentary lives, and the financial drain of owning cars leading to countless health issues
Costa Rica is the best counter-example for the "cars means freedom" argument. When I got my driver's license and started using my car to go to work (a 50Km drive), I can't recall a single day (until I moved) where I had to not deal with a traffic jam of more than an hour. You could even leave before 5AM and you will still deal with it. And when I moved to the city, the street in front of my apartment is always jammed thanks to freight trucks that pass through there. It doesn't matter what kind of car you have, you will be stuck.
@@dcktater7847 Driving a motorbike in the city is wishing to meet one's maker ASAP. Bunch of motorbike drivers here are pretty reckless, and it is very common to see accidents that happened because the car drivers did not see the motorbike because of X or the motorbike going through a forbidden lane. And also, as now there is a bunch of people using motorbikes, it is also very common to see accidents between them because of the lack of space to drive between cars (which is the main benefit of these to avoid traffic jams).
Hey, FYI, "light trucks," or body-on-frame SUV's also have lower standards for safety, at least in the US. Bigger may mean you "win" the collision, but given how many one-car accidents there are, that's not really good enough, if it's not safe enough to begin with. I love cars. I also love trains. Not so much busses. Cars give me a lot of joy. I also acknowledge that cars are a significant causal factor in a lot of social ills. But I think that we have, generally, an issue, at least in the US, with urbanists not understanding at all how life works in smaller and rural locales. I had to drive 4 hours today for an errand that took an hour. Love them, but cars are pain too.
In the EU "light trucks" are vehicles between 3.5 and 7t. For all intends and purposes they are handled as trucks, excpet you need an easier license and older people (50+?) can still drive them with their normal car license. I still think it is ridiculous that you can declare your car a "truck" in the US based on construction but don't suffer any negatives from it.
I don't get the whole thing about getting bigger and fancier cars as I get older and earn more. Frankly, the more I earn the smaller and cheaper my cars are.
Driving a car can be incredibly fun. But, after 100 years or so, now it almost never is fun. Traffic, ultra-rigid policing, fines beyond those for direct crimes, and interaction with the car itself is difficult. I came of age in the 80s and changing your car was lots of fun. Now, you can alter them cosmetically a bit. My friend group lived around our cars. Growing up in the same place, my nephews do not drive. (French car culture is very very unlike my country).
i thought this was gonna be a video about urbanism, and while i am very slightly disappointed, this video opened up new ideas about cars i hadn't thought about much, thank you for the great video as always
As someone who always used public or active means of transportation, I never understood what's up with the fetish with cars. You get to spend a whole lot of money on a machine that will get you stuck and stressed in traffic most of the time. Not even to mention the cost of fuel, license, maintenance and the overall danger of being in traffic.
Busses don’t have launch control. Cars can give you an adrenaline rush like nothing else; provide freedom in places with no public transportation; and you can have a great sound system and crank subs without irritating your neighbours or pets.
@summer-xt1gg 1. You can get an adrenaline rush from other activities that do not endanger others around you 2. This can vary a lot. Where I live, we get a somewhat good public transportation and can cycle to places. For me, it's a false sense of freedom. 3. Noise from cars and sound systems DO irritate people around them, even if you think they don't.
@ 1. Tracks exist. So do empty highways and private roads. I’ve lived in some VERY remote places with no public transportation and no traffic for hours at a time on highways at times. Sorry but I can’t find something that matches it but lmk if you know something I haven’t tried. 2. You’re blessed if you live in a place with high use of public transportation and low urban sprawl, I’d freeze to death waiting for a bus for half an hour in -30, it’s not realllly freedom to have to rely on that and risk your life -or pay triple what you would if you owned a car to take a taxi instead of risking freezing. 3. I didn’t say noise from cars and sound systems don’t irritate anyone; I said that they don’t irritate my neighbours and pets. I’m catless and have a sub, I KNOW it’s loud just like any sound system is loud. I said I get to choose who I’m annoying, the highway is loud already. Reading comprehension is key.
Technically SUVs are less safe in a few ways for the ones driving them, a lot of SUVs are simply way heavier and more tanky, not as "folding" which is bad if you hit a stationary object that's harder than you, i.e. a freaking concrete pillar or wall. As the car won't fold and thus cushion the blow somewhat, you get experience the full impact/velocity in the worst way.
Yes. They're also more susceptible to rolling because they have a high centre of mass, which is extremely dangerous for those inside the vehicle. I think the safety advantages are overstated.
well it is perceived safety rather than actual that is marketed, and I'm not sure that I feel positive about Uber launching a women drivers option, because really that's just monetising people's fears. The ideal SUV from car advertising really would be a big sofa that can be driven around, like a living room on wheels, it seems to be perceived comfort that is marketed rather than safety as such.
Interesting topic! The CAR means so much : Personal freedom. Personal comfort. Personal privacy. Personal image and status and so on.😊 For many the car is more important than the home.
We're trained to identify freedom with ownership--car, house, business like internet influencer. As a result of car culture, the U.S. will never have good public transit or high speed rail, and environmentally disastrous car-dominated suburban sprawl will become slums.
Yes Alice ! Super important le dernier commentaire sur la place intime de la voiture dans la vie de certain, et l'oppression qu'ils subissent. Loved the video, keep shinin' !
The section on safety resonated a lot for me. As someone with anxiety about causing harm to others (and as someone with many privileges that make me more likely to harm than to be harmed, generally), I've avoided car use for most of my life, and when I have to have a car, prefer the smallest possible to reduce environmental cost and the likelihood of my hurting others. My partner is a disabled cis-woman whose disabilities were exacerbated by an auto accident where the other car decisively 'won.' Consequently she feels safer when we're borrowing her parents' SUV.
Great video. We are car obsessed in Ireland too. Poor public transport, lots of dispersed, one off rural houses, low density urban and suburban areas, the car is a necessity here. I’ve driven multiple different cars over the last 15 years and the aggressive attitude other drivers have towards me when I’ve had a Prius is insane. I’ve been driving along at or even well above the speed limit and they’ll speed up and over take me. Never happens to me in other cars. The War on cars podcast is great too for more listening. Vroom Doom by EcoGecko is a great video on the rise of the SUV. What was censored at 10:32?
That last part hits different. I'm black and I remember when I was 19 I was in my dad's brand new Chevy Avalanche. The truck itself was entirely new and had just came out that year. I had a cop ask me if I wanted to go to jail and then asked "who's vehicle is this?" I was with 3 friends in front of a crowd of people at the mall. I felt embarrassed until I heard the crowd start yelling about how racist it was for him to stop me for no reason. This was back in 05 before social media and smartphones. Fortunately he let me go but told me to turn the radio down or he'd take me to jail. 20 years later it is still clearly stamped in my memory
What does it say about me that I'm 49 and haven't got a driver's license? I have never had any driving lessons. When my parents wanted to convince me to become a driver, I just replied, Automobilism is a dead end for human civilisation.
It says that you live somewhere where life without a car is possible. Personally, I live in a city where, if I rely on public transport, I'll never get anything done.
And you were right! I grew up waiting to get my driving license. I was a total car brain. Then I started cycling and I realised I had grown in a car culture.
@@K1989L yeah car culture is definitely a thing. but I think the reason why it exists is when the city design stands in the way of alternatives like cycling. In cities such as Sydney you actually can’t get around by bike. We have bike lanes and some cyclists use them but it’s a case of, unless you are a pro and ready to sweat up a 60 degree incline, you’re not getting from the city centre to the northern suburbs (as an example). similarly, if you’re heading out west it’ll take you two hours to cover what cars cover in 30min via motorway.
Im a guy and I have a dacia spring :) tbh climate change is a great reason to get it if one really needs a car but the ease of parking alone makes it hella worth it
Spring: best car in the world How funny that the ahole musk tries to save the world with a few cyber trux instead of making an army of springs for cheapo. What a conman gee...
i can agree with all that has been said as someone obsessed with cars, as an addendum, as it is with lots of other commodities cars are also integral parts of countless subcultures because we grow up around them and they end up meaning a lot to us, things like hot rodding, custom, lowriders, etc. pre punk era rebels were very often around car centered communities.
I too grew up in the car dependant European countryside, and i even love cars, but i never connected it with class until 2 recent events: 1) my sister getting a car so she could drive to university, and how much not getting a "poor people car" mattered to her, and 2) my families weird insistence on me upgrading my car. It doesn't matter that i like my car, to them it doesn't make sense to stay with it because i could have something better. And it's also interesting because the family members are the ones that have been following that same upgrade cycle you mentioned most closely.
I consider myself very fortunate to be a ten minute walk from work, and therefore don't use a car very often. I understand not everyone has that luxury though. To me, cars are a symbol of dependency, and manufactured pseudo-necessity. Cars are also a good example of the poverty premium, as people of lower socioeconomic status have to buy cheaper, less fuel efficient cars, or often second hand cars that need repairs or replacing within shorter time frames.
I died watching this video 😂 You are Amazing! Alice the thinker, Alice the tinker, Alice the wondergirl, Alice the showgirl. You are so much. I can't even describe anymore.
As a man my relationship with the car evolved as I moved from the countryside to the big city in France. I no longer have one, but have subscribed to a car-sharing service to get to places where there's no public transport. I'd never put into words on the relationship with intimacy in a car and why so many people film themselves in it to make videos.
Je viens de commencer ma thèse de bachelor en design industriel sur l'automobile outil et comment s'écarter du véhicule statutaire, ta vidéo tombe à pic !
This is interesting. As a guy, raised in a single-parent family (mother), I am more concerned with whether the car is practical, economical, and has the necessary features for me to transport whatever I need. I leave all of the the tuning and modifications to street racing video games.
We should always prioritize giving people options and, in that sense, improving public transport because a lot of folks, if they could choose, would consider that instead. Yet, in utilitary terms, especially after what happened in 2020, cars still have relevancy. I think we should indeed keep developing them so they we could minimize their ecological impact and things like that. Engines made 30 years ago were way less efficient than what we have today and they can still be improved.
I can’t relate to most of this. I live in northern Canada. I HAVE to have a car, I can’t wait for a bus in minus 30 weather. Electric cars don’t run here because it’s cold and they die too quickly, and you wouldn’t be able to drive between communities because they’re too far apart. Public or even private transportation is so so expensive and inconvenient because of sprawl. People who don’t have cars are really at a disadvantage. Even still, some cars are too small and under powered or low to get around in the winter so you almost need a small SUV or a car with a larger than average engine, or accept that you won’t be moving some days. & Some places I’ve lived have no public transportation because they’re so small- we don’t even have Uber in my city right now lol. Busses only come every 1-2 hours at most stops, too. I think public transportation is a luxury, I’d like to choose when to drive. I LOVED living in a walkable city and only driving when I wanted.
Public transit is great, I hope to get a car, but I’m not going to get some luxury brand or some stupid shit like that, I’ve been thinking about how spending $70,000-$100,000 on a car is just insane, I’m not impressed by it at all, just seems like a waste of money that does the exact same thing cars that are like $20,000-$30,000. Obviously this also wouldn’t be a major problem if the US didn’t gag on corporations and let other car companies from other countries actual sell in the US, like imagine if the US had Chinese EV’s obviously up to whatever standard (which isn’t that high considering the cyber truck was somehow allowed on the road), if they allowed Japanese manufacturers to produce in the USA, cars would be cheaper, probably safer, better. But nah the USA hates foreign companies if their companies cry that they can’t compete since they don’t know how to innovate, keep things cheap, and just do better. It’s crazy, the USA destroyed the car market because their corporations cried, and they also destroyed the phone market because huawei was innovating too fast, I mean we saw it in the last 4 years, iPhones stagnated, and Samsung which was the only phone that seemed to innovate stopped doing so in 2021. Imagine if apple, and Samsung with their wealth were scared that another company was producing better phones for cheaper.
Good analysis, as usual, thanks for the cool video. You didn’t mention JG Ballard’s novel Crash, but it deals with all three approaches that you discuss here and was written close to the same time as McLuhan. It’s really a great novel, if you haven’t already read it I would recommend it.
I'm a biker and I hate big cars like pick up trucks and suvs. All those dipshits drive those gigantic cars to the office job. What happened to compact cars, where are the nice hatch backs. We had tons of small amazing cars that were fun to drive. I wish EU instead inventing another bullshit "EURO 5B++ whatever" regulation just banned SUV.
I have a weird thing with you. I disagree with many things that you say. You are to the left, while I am to the right philosophically and politically, but your ideas are quite new and interesting to me, so I always come back to listen to you for a fresh and interesting perspective because I like exploring new ideas. Have a Happy New Year, Alice.
you my friend, are a free thinker. I wouldn't consider myself on the right, but I also disagree on a lot with Alice, yet her content is amazing to watch labelling oneself as left / right is inherently limiting as you often have to adopt EVERY belief under the umbrella of said label
I have really conservative backgroud and try to be open dispite my disadvantages. To be honest progressive people seems comfortist to me but alice is amazing, she is opening a new phase of political correctness. She is what progressive people want to be even they dont know.
God, I hope my car isn't an extension of myself--old piece of garbage that just barely gets me around....oh yeah, I guess that tracks. Happy New Year, Alice!
My car is a 2013 Toyota Matrix, which is very similar to the Auris in Europe. According to the "rules" of car ownership and social status, I should have "upgraded" to a sedan, or SUV, and maybe from Lexus. But I love how compact and efficient my car is, and I feel like it's a waste to change cars every few years. But I tend to focus more on my e-bike as a commodity to brag about. On my channel, I made a commercial for mine as a parody of car commercials falsely advertising freedom. The thing about the e-bike, is that it actually does offer the freedom car commercials promise!
Growing up in the early 2000’s in America, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a Hummer. For those unaware, Hummers were these giant SUVs modeled after armored humvees used by the military. They became super popular after 9/11 and around the time of the invasion of Iraq, which to me, was always a perfect microcosm of how consumers project their own fears about the world onto the vehicles they drive. And now we have Cybertrucks, lol.
Car dependency is an infrastructure problem. When you live in place with good public transit not having a car makes you more independent and saves you a lot of money.
I just think it’s so prescient that you released this video when Volkswagen just got caught losing data that tracks your car down to the centimetre. Car = freedom?
I live in a car dependent suburb in North America, grew up in that. And now, I just realize that driving is shit, actually. Flippin pain in the ass. Luckily I live in the centre of this city and have access to a lot of services within walking distance. Now I can walk to the dentist, doctor, pharmacy, grocery, bar. It's so much better, but people here are so obsessed with driving (their huge pickup trucks, cuz you need that in a suburb 😢) they literally hate and rail against measures to make walking and cycling safer. I often almost get run over, so... I try to get as many people as I can to be orange pilled (Not Just Bikes). Great video Alice, well done. Thank you.
I'd much prefer not to have so many cars where I live and have improved bike and public transit infrastructure, but both on a personal level, and a social level, it would be nicer if people drove small cars. All the comical oversized clown trucks, and ever burgeoning cars and SUVs that 30 years ago were compact are now the size of their larger counterparts is making for the crowded streets feel even more so. As for the customization you mentioned, I found I've gravitated towards bikes to some extent because I am better able to adapt and customize components on one much more readily than with cars that are becoming more and more like a climate controlled iPad, with little ability to really make something my own.
Has "Fighting Traffic" by Peter Norton come up in your analysis/research into the sociological/economical/political ramifications of cars and car culture?
The Jag shows promise, but square/rectangular steering wheel? That Jag was part of British Leyland when they released the Allegro with its square steering wheel, and it did not end well (though it was a thousand cuts that did for it). I think they should know better than to go down that path!
I don't drive. So many people think you need to drive. So many people think I must live a privileged life if I can get around without a car. Like, no, I just have seizures and a whole host of other neurological problems, and shouldn't be driving, and so I walk, cycle, and bus everywhere. I'm convinced cars keep people poor and miserable. They're so expensive and unpleasant. People act like they're being forced to have a car by society or something as if almost every major city in the USA doesn't have buses. Buses which would be able to be on time more easily and would be better funded and more respectable if more people were using them and less people were driving. People are so cooked on this issue, I'm honestly convinced it's not worth talking to most people about at this point. They're ruining our planet, keeping people to themselves instead of participating in communities, literally killing people in accidents every day, causing all sorts of noise pollution, and cost SO MUCH MONEY both for cities and individuals, and yet most can't imagine living without it. It's bizarre. It's why the phrase "car-pilled" feels appropriate. It's like they're in the Matrix.
I think this is true, possibly. Unless you live in a place like Alaska. I live in northern Canada and we HAVE to have cars because who on earth could wait at a bus stop in -30?! Electric cars don’t even work here.
@@zenleeparadise my ancestors have been here for 30,000 years, I’m not just gonna leave cause it’s cold 🤷🏼♀️ but I’m also not going to stand outside with no shelter and wait for a bus if I have a choice.
@@summer-xt1gg I was in Phoenix for 10 years and was like "this is too hot to live here ethically, eff this" but if you don't respect practicality at all and wish to kill the planet burning fossil fuels to get around when there are more environmentally friendly places to live, that's your business I guess and you can act like you're better than people who care to adapt to modern ways if you wish all you want. Good luck with that as the climate changes and these outdated modes of getting around are eventually outlawed due to being flagrantly unethical and unsustainable. That's between you and you God, I suppose.
@ ooh not the anti-indigenous racism. God isn’t real, we’re here to stay despite the Christian doctrine of discovery- but I agree, you should go back to Europe if you can’t handle the climate on turtle island. #landback FYI my golf R is a modern invention, you want me to break out the trap lines and dog sleds just for you? Lmfao calm down.
Cyber truck. Lol. Don't wash it, it'll rust. Don't get too much sunlight on it, it'll rust. Don't get dirt on it, it'll rust. Don't step on the gas pedal, it'll get stuck. It'll stand up to a thermonuclear explosion. 🤔
Bigger cars don't really provide safety, in some ways they do, but in other - no. Bigger car = heavier car = longer breaking distance It's not really safer if it's harder to stop.
Nah it's not true. So long as the brakes can provide treshold braking power at all times it doesnt matter how heavy and even the smallest shittiest brakes can do that in a one time braking scenario. The only difference is tyre load sensitvity why the heavier is a littlebit more sluggish but it's not significant. Just put on a slightly stickier tyre on the big car and it'll outbrake the small with a harder compound any time. And also factor in that the large car will have wider tyres which cancels out the tyre load sensitivity to begin with. (Maneuverability is a bit different there the heavy has a larger disadvantage so what you say is kinda true but not true at the same time)
I fully believe that the idea that we are defined by the cars we drive and products we consume is mostly marketing / consumerist propaganda. And no, I'm not just saying that because I grew up poor and I had to ride a bike everywhere for the first 22 years of my life (in areas that were incredibly hostile towards anyone outside of a car). Okay, well, maybe those formative experiences have left me a little jaded towards car dependency.
I laugh (at least, in spirit) whenever someone says that owning a car is "freedom" (esp. in a car-centric area) What "freedom"? Freedom to be stuck in traffic and have *no other option* in car-centric areas (esp. most of the US)? To be "at the mercy" of any reckless dumbshit on the road, esp. the interstate? Constant frustrations with *idiots* who, clearly, don't even "know how" to properly drive, let alone 'follow the rules'? let alone drive politely and/or courteously Yeah, I feel "so liberated" having to use a car to get most-anywhere in my area. ...One major reason why I (hopefully) am moving to Chicago after my car's paid off in late 2027. *crosses fingers* I used the L (and some CTA buses) *extensively* during a trip to Chicago in 2022, and it was AWESOME! Or, at least, way preferable to my usual mode of transportation here at home. As time passed, and the day I had to *Go back* came closer and closer, I was more and more anxious. "*sigh* ...gotta deal w/ driving everywhere, again"
I like the safety angle, but you might have missed that a large contingent of consumers who focus on car safety are deffensive drivers who are more worried about unsafe drivers crashing into them and their family than the other way around.
We should instead be weirdly obsessed with trains.
I am.
Me.
Maybe also pipe organ
join the club!
Word
As a male, I can confirm I changed the physical appearance of my car, (and subsequently peoples perception of me) by removing its existence from my life.
I always felt alienated by the interest so many people in Texas have in cars. Even as a kid, I didn't really care. Aside from monster trucks and hot wheels when I was around four to seven and aside from concept cars, though that's because it was an abstract idea involving technology that felt different. It's like sports. It just doesn't interest me.🤷♂And around 2017, I didn't even want a car. They're dangerous, require a lot of attention and energy, and are incredibly expensive.
Yeah car dependency hurts us economically, socially, health wise & environmentally as well. The reason why the US is in a housing crisis is due to single family zoning & parking minimums (plus the lack of public housing as well). It’s also plays a massive factor as to why so many are dealing with isolation/loneliness cuz everything is too damn spread out & car dependency hurts working class people. It’s nuts that cars are viewed as a symbol of social status cuz they’re a financial liability.
*civilizational liability*
You're right about everything but housing. We have 28 million unoccupied units, more than the total number of homeless. The problem is landlords.
Both can be a problem. There’s enough blame to go around
Don’t forget corporate ownership of housing as well.
More perfect union has covered corporate ownership on homes check it out!
The big car/SUV love has been 40 years of marketing and lobbying. The obsession with cars is very much created.
soccer moms with suvs and running over pre schoolers; name a more iconic duo.
Pit bulls and mauling toddlers?
Get well soon!
I grew up in Moscow, Russia, a well-developed city, and I am so used to public transport that I see cars as something that limits freedom-something you don't really use unless you are transporting a lot of stuff to a big distance. It's a necessity for people who have a lot of things rather than something meaningful and useful for me.
But of course, I have rarely felt unsafe on public transport (only in the US).
Growing up in a highly congested city, the idea of cars as a means of freedom seem so laughable for me. But I do have an affinity towards cars almost like a work of art. I watch a lot of car reviews mostly just to admire the shape and design. That said, public transportation is the king of the road and I support every policy that makes it harder to own a car.
I was once in NYC with my then-boss (I was a PA at the time) in his SUV - we lived upstate and we'd commuted into the city for a job for the day - and we needed to get to a gas station that was 1.5 miles away to fill up the tank before leaving the city because we were nearly running on empty. It took us literally almost an hour to get 1.5 miles because of the congestion. It was one of the most absurd situations I'd ever experienced. I was losing my mind. 😂
@@zenleeparadise dude... back in my middle school days, my school was about 20 miles away and public trans weren't as good as today. So me, my sis, mom, and dad rely on car. My day started at 4 AM and if we didn't hit the road by 5.30, might as well skip school. We usually got home at 9 PM at the earliest and there was this one time when the congestion was so bad we decided stay at a hotel for the night. I still retain the good habit of waking up early so there are some positives I guess...🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@gojiplusone staying at a hotel in your own city because congestion is too bad to get home is crazy. Sounds like something out of a satire omg this gave me a good laugh. We live in such an absurd society.
Yeah, i like cars as an instrument that can help you do things other forms of transportation can't, such as off road traveling or just racing. But i yearn for a world not based around cars, i hate driving in cities, i hate how unsafe it is and all the space and noise cars take and make, plus all the harms it causes
@@Bojoschannel the racing part is dangerous, you're not suppesed to be racing in public roads.
I think that it's very interesting that you point out how for many women the car is a safe window for the outside world, while for working class and minority men it can often be a danger. I think it speaks to the various different types of oppression people from different social groups experience because of how the are perceived.
ALICE HAS LEGIT STOLEN MY BASED CONTENT FROM ME AS A VICTIM I AM SO VERY UPSET NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!!😭
@ville-c4u lmao, how? She has had a successful channel for years with a good team and other support. You on the other hand have no content and shit post rage bait with no spelling or grammar check. I suggest you read a book on writing or something so you don't embarrass yourself so much on the internet.
@@the-goddess-of-librariesit’s a bot. Report and move on. Do not engage lest we let out something more… unseemly
@@DestinyNeoGirl TH-cam took away my post reporting privileges :(
This is a known neo-nazi, so I took the time to report the whole channel a second time.
I hate SUVs and other large cars with a passion. They are oversized, heavy, dangerous (especially for the driver!) and destroy the roads/ pavements. Very aggressive looking too. Cars like the minivan or an estate are way better for utility too. The oversized vehicles just don't fit on British roads very well either, causing tons of extra traffic. Parking, forget about it. It was better when cars were smaller and looked neutral. Public transport should be the way to go and more should be done to improve their frequency in cities, suburbs and rural areas alike. A regular consistent service in my opinion does a lot to help with the need to feel safe too. Britain certainly has a lot to learn from France about public transport.
I find it crazy that my Chevy C10 which is one of the heavier vehicles that was made during its time is usually around 1000lbs lighter than most SUV's that you see on the road today.
@@lucasward9506 Yes exactly, now imagine millions more cars on the roads than when that car was brand new. With all that extra weight carried every day, no wonder the roads are broken. People say about the Roman roads lasting a long time but they'd have tons of potholes too if they had to deal with what the modern roads do. A big reason EVs aren't the solution either, as the batteries make them very heavy.
I think cars speak to American individualism; most drivers are alone, compared to public transportation
Which causes a "me vs the world" mentality. Because people tend to be "in your way" when you drive. Conversely, being public transportation is seen as limiting, for "poor people", and exposes you to people different from you and that's bad and scary of course.
Yeah, that's the sickness of the illness.
And that individualism is entirely manufactured to sell you crap.
And they use four times the resources they actually require, ie, three empty seats with most trips being solo
NYC metro is pretty social, look hows it going
When I lived in Europe I was without a car but felt more free. Being able to hop onto public transit and get wherever you need is a freedom I've almost never experienced living in North America.
This is exactly how I feel about moving from the California central valley to the San Francisco bay area
ALICE HAS LEGIT STOLEN MY BASED CONTENT FROM ME AS A VICTIM I AM SO VERY UPSET NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!!😭
The freedom of necessity, something Americans just can't undertand
why did you move?
I spent the first 9 months of this year with no car and relying on my e-bike, and the ONLY drivers who were aggressive towards me were men in trucks. Usually when there were multiple men in those trucks.
bigger the car, smaller the... self esteem
Mate i don't know where you are from but where i am from those e bikes are literally trying to die same for the scooter's
The car is also seen as a sign of maturity. I'm 30, I have a career as a lawyer, I've lived abroad, I own my home, I have a motorcycle with which I go on long-distance adventures - but I don't have a car licence and don't want one, so every car driver from 18 to 99 thinks I'm basically a child 😅
I would love to live somewhere without winters and where I could ride a motorcycle year round. I would not even think about having my own car.
@K1989L I live in Germany, but it's not too snowy round here, so for the few snowy days I take the train or, worst case, a taxi. Honestly, it's great not having to spend money on a car. Insurance for my bike is 65 euros for the whole year, I pay no taxes on it and it has a super low consumption of 1.5 litres per 100 km, so it basically costs me nothing. Sadly, my public transport pass is much more expensive than the bike.
Growing up, car-ownership was seen as a status symbol, and if you didn't own a car, people looked down at you.
We do live in a car-dependent society. I love cars, but car-dependency for everything has been an issue, and where im from you have to drive a car to get to point a and point b.
I do see Mom SUVS lol.
The popular suv with moms here are Cadillac Escalades, Lincoln Navigators, GMC Yukons, BMW X7, Audi Q7, Mercedes GL, Lexus GX etc.
Good video Alice!!
I really like cars, but I would trade them all away for walkable cities.
That clip has made David Beckham go up in my estimation a hundredfold!
Same.
Sorry to be that guy, but he also lent his credibility to the 2022 Qatar World Cup with all its human rights violations. At least that in my books, knocks him down a peg.
I've only seen the meme in pictures, I had no idea who the people were lol. Thanks for pointing that out! :) that clip is so funny lol
ALICE HAS LEGIT STOLEN MY BASED CONTENT FROM ME AS A VICTIM I AM SO VERY UPSET NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!!😭
Having only ever seen the meme it made me think he was being more humourous in telling her to be honest but he's actually quite pissed off at her (as he should be!)
I am a massive car enthusiast, I grew up in suburban US where car dependency is at its best. when I was young and dumb it was a symbol of freedom and emotional relief. If I was having girl issues or stressed about life in general I would go for a drive in the mountains at reckless and even felony speeds. As I matured I got into racing on a track instead and it quickly became a ritual and replacement for the church I stopped believing in. I now own multiple race cars and gokarts and avoid driving on the streets as I have found that staring into someone elses brake lights isnt what i want in life. For me my cars are weapons to fight physics and the track is a holy place meant for dedication and focus. Neither of those things happen in the streets I find no joy in driving from point a to b no car could even bring that joy that's why I have relocated to a city with well rounded public transit so I can sit and day dream about the track while I commute instead of watch people nearly killing each other just to get to work on time. I am now at peace.
I could not agree more. I LOVE cars but I hate driving on the day to day, so much so I now live in a walkable city and dont own a car. But I have driven all over Europe and Africa including across the Sahara following the PariDakar rally
UK here, Not had a car in years... Living in an urban area with excellent public transport links.
However an old car, say something form the mid 80's or earlier, especially it is a European car with fins and chrome, I can't help but smile. Especially if it is a normal car.
Went to a classic car show, E-types are lovely, but a Hillman Imp, A 60's Ford Anglia estate or a Triumph Herald like my grandparents had, I'm oohing and ahhing like its a cute puppy! Compared to the them, these days the E-Type Jag is common as muck! Modern cars, leave me cold!
I wish car advertising was banned on the same grounds that cigarettes were. Car crashes kill 42,000 people here in America a year, and many more get injured. Then there are the long term health outcomes from the metals and toxins emitted by them, the sedentary lifestyle they contribute to, and how cars have made fast food so popular. Short of banning car ads, they should be required to show real driving conditions. The way car ads are made now, they're showing that ideal driving conditions are ones in which no other cars are around. In other words, drivers hate other drivers, yet auto makers advertise that you'll drive without other cars. Bring on the trains!
A white SUV mom hit me yesterday while on the bicycle lane, she was trying to park there! Guess what bozos with how huge these things are you won't be finding parking spots!
And guess what, they complain to the authorities that parking spaces are too small. Even though they knew how big a standard spot is yet they decided to buy a tank-like car regardless. Now they're expecting the infrastructure to accomodate the ridiculous trend. Of course disregarding the fact that making spaces bigger makes it so there's less of them unless we start demoloshing half of the city for parking like they did in many cities in the US.
I saw people in their huge SUVs driving deeper into the space so that they could even open their door and leave the car, of course blocking the cars on their sides from being accessible to their owners.
The intimacy /private space point is a good one and I think something I've taken for granted. Is it at the expense of our connection with others, given how cars isolate ourselves from each other, and turn other drivers into less-human obstacles in the way of our journey?
And this obsession is killing us in so many ways: car drivers physically killing people, respiratory issues caused by people growing up in/living in car dependent areas, climate change brought about by car emissions, the urban sprawl leading to less walkability and more sedentary lives, and the financial drain of owning cars leading to countless health issues
Breeding like labbit kls us...
Costa Rica is the best counter-example for the "cars means freedom" argument. When I got my driver's license and started using my car to go to work (a 50Km drive), I can't recall a single day (until I moved) where I had to not deal with a traffic jam of more than an hour. You could even leave before 5AM and you will still deal with it. And when I moved to the city, the street in front of my apartment is always jammed thanks to freight trucks that pass through there. It doesn't matter what kind of car you have, you will be stuck.
Costarica --->motorbike --->duhh
(Except if the car is needed for work ofc)
@@dcktater7847 Driving a motorbike in the city is wishing to meet one's maker ASAP. Bunch of motorbike drivers here are pretty reckless, and it is very common to see accidents that happened because the car drivers did not see the motorbike because of X or the motorbike going through a forbidden lane. And also, as now there is a bunch of people using motorbikes, it is also very common to see accidents between them because of the lack of space to drive between cars (which is the main benefit of these to avoid traffic jams).
Hey, FYI, "light trucks," or body-on-frame SUV's also have lower standards for safety, at least in the US. Bigger may mean you "win" the collision, but given how many one-car accidents there are, that's not really good enough, if it's not safe enough to begin with.
I love cars. I also love trains. Not so much busses. Cars give me a lot of joy. I also acknowledge that cars are a significant causal factor in a lot of social ills. But I think that we have, generally, an issue, at least in the US, with urbanists not understanding at all how life works in smaller and rural locales. I had to drive 4 hours today for an errand that took an hour. Love them, but cars are pain too.
In the EU "light trucks" are vehicles between 3.5 and 7t. For all intends and purposes they are handled as trucks, excpet you need an easier license and older people (50+?) can still drive them with their normal car license.
I still think it is ridiculous that you can declare your car a "truck" in the US based on construction but don't suffer any negatives from it.
I don't get the whole thing about getting bigger and fancier cars as I get older and earn more. Frankly, the more I earn the smaller and cheaper my cars are.
Its all about the illusion of wealth. Actual wealthy people drive reliable and understated cars
Yup
Pretty much the car industry going ham on advertising since the car bonanza era is starting to dwindle (as it should).
Driving a car can be incredibly fun. But, after 100 years or so, now it almost never is fun. Traffic, ultra-rigid policing, fines beyond those for direct crimes, and interaction with the car itself is difficult.
I came of age in the 80s and changing your car was lots of fun. Now, you can alter them cosmetically a bit.
My friend group lived around our cars. Growing up in the same place, my nephews do not drive.
(French car culture is very very unlike my country).
Obsession with cars is mandatory for socialisation among the working classes here in England. Followed by the weather.
I live in Detroit “ the motor city” . The automobile is the very invention humanity created that turns any angel while driving into a devil
i thought this was gonna be a video about urbanism, and while i am very slightly disappointed, this video opened up new ideas about cars i hadn't thought about much, thank you for the great video as always
The automobile. The privatization of transportation.
This is definitely one of my favourite videos from you ! You made some brilliant points.
I drove my son to school in my OG Mercedes diesel burning fish and chip oil lol.
As someone who always used public or active means of transportation, I never understood what's up with the fetish with cars. You get to spend a whole lot of money on a machine that will get you stuck and stressed in traffic most of the time. Not even to mention the cost of fuel, license, maintenance and the overall danger of being in traffic.
Busses don’t have launch control. Cars can give you an adrenaline rush like nothing else; provide freedom in places with no public transportation; and you can have a great sound system and crank subs without irritating your neighbours or pets.
@summer-xt1gg 1. You can get an adrenaline rush from other activities that do not endanger others around you
2. This can vary a lot. Where I live, we get a somewhat good public transportation and can cycle to places. For me, it's a false sense of freedom.
3. Noise from cars and sound systems DO irritate people around them, even if you think they don't.
@ 1. Tracks exist. So do empty highways and private roads. I’ve lived in some VERY remote places with no public transportation and no traffic for hours at a time on highways at times. Sorry but I can’t find something that matches it but lmk if you know something I haven’t tried.
2. You’re blessed if you live in a place with high use of public transportation and low urban sprawl, I’d freeze to death waiting for a bus for half an hour in -30, it’s not realllly freedom to have to rely on that and risk your life -or pay triple what you would if you owned a car to take a taxi instead of risking freezing.
3. I didn’t say noise from cars and sound systems don’t irritate anyone; I said that they don’t irritate my neighbours and pets. I’m catless and have a sub, I KNOW it’s loud just like any sound system is loud. I said I get to choose who I’m annoying, the highway is loud already. Reading comprehension is key.
Technically SUVs are less safe in a few ways for the ones driving them, a lot of SUVs are simply way heavier and more tanky, not as "folding" which is bad if you hit a stationary object that's harder than you, i.e. a freaking concrete pillar or wall.
As the car won't fold and thus cushion the blow somewhat, you get experience the full impact/velocity in the worst way.
Yes. They're also more susceptible to rolling because they have a high centre of mass, which is extremely dangerous for those inside the vehicle. I think the safety advantages are overstated.
well it is perceived safety rather than actual that is marketed, and I'm not sure that I feel positive about Uber launching a women drivers option, because really that's just monetising people's fears. The ideal SUV from car advertising really would be a big sofa that can be driven around, like a living room on wheels, it seems to be perceived comfort that is marketed rather than safety as such.
"The horse."
That's all that is needed to say.
Interesting topic! The CAR means so much : Personal freedom. Personal comfort. Personal privacy. Personal image and status and so on.😊 For many the car is more important than the home.
We're trained to identify freedom with ownership--car, house, business like internet influencer. As a result of car culture, the U.S. will never have good public transit or high speed rail, and environmentally disastrous car-dominated suburban sprawl will become slums.
This was such a great topic! I would love to see all the sources and references you used to have a better starting place on how to explore the topic
6:31 “I’m not like a regular mom, I’m a cool mom.”
Yes Alice ! Super important le dernier commentaire sur la place intime de la voiture dans la vie de certain, et l'oppression qu'ils subissent.
Loved the video, keep shinin' !
not just bikes mentioned lfg
The section on safety resonated a lot for me. As someone with anxiety about causing harm to others (and as someone with many privileges that make me more likely to harm than to be harmed, generally), I've avoided car use for most of my life, and when I have to have a car, prefer the smallest possible to reduce environmental cost and the likelihood of my hurting others.
My partner is a disabled cis-woman whose disabilities were exacerbated by an auto accident where the other car decisively 'won.' Consequently she feels safer when we're borrowing her parents' SUV.
Great video. We are car obsessed in Ireland too. Poor public transport, lots of dispersed, one off rural houses, low density urban and suburban areas, the car is a necessity here. I’ve driven multiple different cars over the last 15 years and the aggressive attitude other drivers have towards me when I’ve had a Prius is insane. I’ve been driving along at or even well above the speed limit and they’ll speed up and over take me. Never happens to me in other cars.
The War on cars podcast is great too for more listening. Vroom Doom by EcoGecko is a great video on the rise of the SUV.
What was censored at 10:32?
Cars themselves aren't necessarily the problem; individual car ownership and the lack of public transportation options are the bigger problems.
Makes sense.
I clicked to watch the typical "Hell Yeah Cars" video, but ended up attending a class. good
That last part hits different. I'm black and I remember when I was 19 I was in my dad's brand new Chevy Avalanche. The truck itself was entirely new and had just came out that year. I had a cop ask me if I wanted to go to jail and then asked "who's vehicle is this?" I was with 3 friends in front of a crowd of people at the mall. I felt embarrassed until I heard the crowd start yelling about how racist it was for him to stop me for no reason. This was back in 05 before social media and smartphones. Fortunately he let me go but told me to turn the radio down or he'd take me to jail. 20 years later it is still clearly stamped in my memory
What does it say about me that I'm 49 and haven't got a driver's license? I have never had any driving lessons. When my parents wanted to convince me to become a driver, I just replied, Automobilism is a dead end for human civilisation.
It says you're a loser who will depend on someone else to get you to where you need to go.
The best car is your friend's car!@@darkworlddenizen
It says that you live somewhere where life without a car is possible. Personally, I live in a city where, if I rely on public transport, I'll never get anything done.
And you were right! I grew up waiting to get my driving license. I was a total car brain. Then I started cycling and I realised I had grown in a car culture.
@@K1989L yeah car culture is definitely a thing. but I think the reason why it exists is when the city design stands in the way of alternatives like cycling. In cities such as Sydney you actually can’t get around by bike. We have bike lanes and some cyclists use them but it’s a case of, unless you are a pro and ready to sweat up a 60 degree incline, you’re not getting from the city centre to the northern suburbs (as an example). similarly, if you’re heading out west it’ll take you two hours to cover what cars cover in 30min via motorway.
Car for men is a method of advertising to women their wealth without saying a word.
Im a guy and I have a dacia spring :) tbh climate change is a great reason to get it if one really needs a car but the ease of parking alone makes it hella worth it
Spring: best car in the world
How funny that the ahole musk tries to save the world with a few cyber trux instead of making an army of springs for cheapo. What a conman gee...
i can agree with all that has been said as someone obsessed with cars, as an addendum, as it is with lots of other commodities cars are also integral parts of countless subcultures because we grow up around them and they end up meaning a lot to us, things like hot rodding, custom, lowriders, etc. pre punk era rebels were very often around car centered communities.
the little hit marker at 10:00 lmao
I too grew up in the car dependant European countryside, and i even love cars, but i never connected it with class until 2 recent events: 1) my sister getting a car so she could drive to university, and how much not getting a "poor people car" mattered to her, and 2) my families weird insistence on me upgrading my car.
It doesn't matter that i like my car, to them it doesn't make sense to stay with it because i could have something better. And it's also interesting because the family members are the ones that have been following that same upgrade cycle you mentioned most closely.
I like vehicles in general.
Cars, trains, planes, Even boats.
But some i always like to see are construction vehicles.
I consider myself very fortunate to be a ten minute walk from work, and therefore don't use a car very often. I understand not everyone has that luxury though.
To me, cars are a symbol of dependency, and manufactured pseudo-necessity. Cars are also a good example of the poverty premium, as people of lower socioeconomic status have to buy cheaper, less fuel efficient cars, or often second hand cars that need repairs or replacing within shorter time frames.
I love your accent :3 I could listen to you for hours
I died watching this video 😂
You are Amazing! Alice the thinker, Alice the tinker, Alice the wondergirl, Alice the showgirl. You are so much. I can't even describe anymore.
As a man my relationship with the car evolved as I moved from the countryside to the big city in France. I no longer have one, but have subscribed to a car-sharing service to get to places where there's no public transport. I'd never put into words on the relationship with intimacy in a car and why so many people film themselves in it to make videos.
Je viens de commencer ma thèse de bachelor en design industriel sur l'automobile outil et comment s'écarter du véhicule statutaire, ta vidéo tombe à pic !
This is interesting. As a guy, raised in a single-parent family (mother), I am more concerned with whether the car is practical, economical, and has the necessary features for me to transport whatever I need. I leave all of the the tuning and modifications to street racing video games.
NOT JUST BIKES MENTIONED
We should always prioritize giving people options and, in that sense, improving public transport because a lot of folks, if they could choose, would consider that instead. Yet, in utilitary terms, especially after what happened in 2020, cars still have relevancy. I think we should indeed keep developing them so they we could minimize their ecological impact and things like that. Engines made 30 years ago were way less efficient than what we have today and they can still be improved.
I can’t relate to most of this. I live in northern Canada. I HAVE to have a car, I can’t wait for a bus in minus 30 weather. Electric cars don’t run here because it’s cold and they die too quickly, and you wouldn’t be able to drive between communities because they’re too far apart. Public or even private transportation is so so expensive and inconvenient because of sprawl. People who don’t have cars are really at a disadvantage. Even still, some cars are too small and under powered or low to get around in the winter so you almost need a small SUV or a car with a larger than average engine, or accept that you won’t be moving some days.
& Some places I’ve lived have no public transportation because they’re so small- we don’t even have Uber in my city right now lol. Busses only come every 1-2 hours at most stops, too. I think public transportation is a luxury, I’d like to choose when to drive. I LOVED living in a walkable city and only driving when I wanted.
Public transit is great, I hope to get a car, but I’m not going to get some luxury brand or some stupid shit like that, I’ve been thinking about how spending $70,000-$100,000 on a car is just insane, I’m not impressed by it at all, just seems like a waste of money that does the exact same thing cars that are like $20,000-$30,000.
Obviously this also wouldn’t be a major problem if the US didn’t gag on corporations and let other car companies from other countries actual sell in the US, like imagine if the US had Chinese EV’s obviously up to whatever standard (which isn’t that high considering the cyber truck was somehow allowed on the road), if they allowed Japanese manufacturers to produce in the USA, cars would be cheaper, probably safer, better.
But nah the USA hates foreign companies if their companies cry that they can’t compete since they don’t know how to innovate, keep things cheap, and just do better.
It’s crazy, the USA destroyed the car market because their corporations cried, and they also destroyed the phone market because huawei was innovating too fast, I mean we saw it in the last 4 years, iPhones stagnated, and Samsung which was the only phone that seemed to innovate stopped doing so in 2021. Imagine if apple, and Samsung with their wealth were scared that another company was producing better phones for cheaper.
As a Brazilian living in Portugal, they see those same models in the car ladder. Impressive the influence France has here
Good analysis, as usual, thanks for the cool video. You didn’t mention JG Ballard’s novel Crash, but it deals with all three approaches that you discuss here and was written close to the same time as McLuhan. It’s really a great novel, if you haven’t already read it I would recommend it.
random sims 2 theme song moment.
I'm a biker and I hate big cars like pick up trucks and suvs. All those dipshits drive those gigantic cars to the office job. What happened to compact cars, where are the nice hatch backs. We had tons of small amazing cars that were fun to drive. I wish EU instead inventing another bullshit "EURO 5B++ whatever" regulation just banned SUV.
Most of the time you're stuck in traffic, so where's the freedom
I have a weird thing with you. I disagree with many things that you say. You are to the left, while I am to the right philosophically and politically, but your ideas are quite new and interesting to me, so I always come back to listen to you for a fresh and interesting perspective because I like exploring new ideas. Have a Happy New Year, Alice.
Good for you! Happy new year! :D
Great for you to see both sides
you my friend, are a free thinker. I wouldn't consider myself on the right, but I also disagree on a lot with Alice, yet her content is amazing to watch
labelling oneself as left / right is inherently limiting as you often have to adopt EVERY belief under the umbrella of said label
Bruh
I have really conservative backgroud and try to be open dispite my disadvantages. To be honest progressive people seems comfortist to me but alice is amazing, she is opening a new phase of political correctness. She is what progressive people want to be even they dont know.
God, I hope my car isn't an extension of myself--old piece of garbage that just barely gets me around....oh yeah, I guess that tracks. Happy New Year, Alice!
My car is a 2013 Toyota Matrix, which is very similar to the Auris in Europe. According to the "rules" of car ownership and social status, I should have "upgraded" to a sedan, or SUV, and maybe from Lexus. But I love how compact and efficient my car is, and I feel like it's a waste to change cars every few years.
But I tend to focus more on my e-bike as a commodity to brag about. On my channel, I made a commercial for mine as a parody of car commercials falsely advertising freedom. The thing about the e-bike, is that it actually does offer the freedom car commercials promise!
Well done thanks for sharing, Alice
cars are so dangerous for every one not in one
To me a car must be cheap to buy, waterproof, low fuel consumption, durable, easy and cheap to fix. All the rest is a bonus.
Growing up in the early 2000’s in America, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a Hummer. For those unaware, Hummers were these giant SUVs modeled after armored humvees used by the military. They became super popular after 9/11 and around the time of the invasion of Iraq, which to me, was always a perfect microcosm of how consumers project their own fears about the world onto the vehicles they drive. And now we have Cybertrucks, lol.
Car dependency is an infrastructure problem. When you live in place with good public transit not having a car makes you more independent and saves you a lot of money.
"50% of my audience identify as male"
oh yeah, i should probably update that!
I always use the "text me when you get home" option.
I just think it’s so prescient that you released this video when Volkswagen just got caught losing data that tracks your car down to the centimetre. Car = freedom?
I thought you meant the Disney movie.
I live in a car dependent suburb in North America, grew up in that. And now, I just realize that driving is shit, actually. Flippin pain in the ass. Luckily I live in the centre of this city and have access to a lot of services within walking distance. Now I can walk to the dentist, doctor, pharmacy, grocery, bar. It's so much better, but people here are so obsessed with driving (their huge pickup trucks, cuz you need that in a suburb 😢) they literally hate and rail against measures to make walking and cycling safer. I often almost get run over, so... I try to get as many people as I can to be orange pilled (Not Just Bikes). Great video Alice, well done. Thank you.
10:36 whats up with the blur?
You can just ignore social hierarchies...
I'd much prefer not to have so many cars where I live and have improved bike and public transit infrastructure, but both on a personal level, and a social level, it would be nicer if people drove small cars. All the comical oversized clown trucks, and ever burgeoning cars and SUVs that 30 years ago were compact are now the size of their larger counterparts is making for the crowded streets feel even more so.
As for the customization you mentioned, I found I've gravitated towards bikes to some extent because I am better able to adapt and customize components on one much more readily than with cars that are becoming more and more like a climate controlled iPad, with little ability to really make something my own.
Great video! Thanks for making it 😊
Has "Fighting Traffic" by Peter Norton come up in your analysis/research into the sociological/economical/political ramifications of cars and car culture?
Alice pumping out the 🔥content!
Favourite video so far.
Point A to Point B is all I’ll ever need
The Jag shows promise, but square/rectangular steering wheel? That Jag was part of British Leyland when they released the Allegro with its square steering wheel, and it did not end well (though it was a thousand cuts that did for it). I think they should know better than to go down that path!
I don't drive. So many people think you need to drive. So many people think I must live a privileged life if I can get around without a car. Like, no, I just have seizures and a whole host of other neurological problems, and shouldn't be driving, and so I walk, cycle, and bus everywhere. I'm convinced cars keep people poor and miserable. They're so expensive and unpleasant. People act like they're being forced to have a car by society or something as if almost every major city in the USA doesn't have buses. Buses which would be able to be on time more easily and would be better funded and more respectable if more people were using them and less people were driving. People are so cooked on this issue, I'm honestly convinced it's not worth talking to most people about at this point. They're ruining our planet, keeping people to themselves instead of participating in communities, literally killing people in accidents every day, causing all sorts of noise pollution, and cost SO MUCH MONEY both for cities and individuals, and yet most can't imagine living without it. It's bizarre. It's why the phrase "car-pilled" feels appropriate. It's like they're in the Matrix.
I think this is true, possibly. Unless you live in a place like Alaska. I live in northern Canada and we HAVE to have cars because who on earth could wait at a bus stop in -30?! Electric cars don’t even work here.
@summer-xt1gg I wouldn't live in a place where being outside in and of itself could kill you. The fact places like that are inhabited baffles me.
@@zenleeparadise my ancestors have been here for 30,000 years, I’m not just gonna leave cause it’s cold 🤷🏼♀️ but I’m also not going to stand outside with no shelter and wait for a bus if I have a choice.
@@summer-xt1gg I was in Phoenix for 10 years and was like "this is too hot to live here ethically, eff this" but if you don't respect practicality at all and wish to kill the planet burning fossil fuels to get around when there are more environmentally friendly places to live, that's your business I guess and you can act like you're better than people who care to adapt to modern ways if you wish all you want. Good luck with that as the climate changes and these outdated modes of getting around are eventually outlawed due to being flagrantly unethical and unsustainable. That's between you and you God, I suppose.
@ ooh not the anti-indigenous racism. God isn’t real, we’re here to stay despite the Christian doctrine of discovery- but I agree, you should go back to Europe if you can’t handle the climate on turtle island. #landback
FYI my golf R is a modern invention, you want me to break out the trap lines and dog sleds just for you? Lmfao calm down.
Cyber truck. Lol. Don't wash it, it'll rust. Don't get too much sunlight on it, it'll rust. Don't get dirt on it, it'll rust. Don't step on the gas pedal, it'll get stuck. It'll stand up to a thermonuclear explosion. 🤔
Bigger cars don't really provide safety, in some ways they do, but in other - no. Bigger car = heavier car = longer breaking distance
It's not really safer if it's harder to stop.
Nah it's not true. So long as the brakes can provide treshold braking power at all times it doesnt matter how heavy and even the smallest shittiest brakes can do that in a one time braking scenario. The only difference is tyre load sensitvity why the heavier is a littlebit more sluggish but it's not significant. Just put on a slightly stickier tyre on the big car and it'll outbrake the small with a harder compound any time. And also factor in that the large car will have wider tyres which cancels out the tyre load sensitivity to begin with. (Maneuverability is a bit different there the heavy has a larger disadvantage so what you say is kinda true but not true at the same time)
I fully believe that the idea that we are defined by the cars we drive and products we consume is mostly marketing / consumerist propaganda. And no, I'm not just saying that because I grew up poor and I had to ride a bike everywhere for the first 22 years of my life (in areas that were incredibly hostile towards anyone outside of a car). Okay, well, maybe those formative experiences have left me a little jaded towards car dependency.
2 videos in 3 days??! Alice is on a roll
Two vids in a week, we eating good.
Also lovely outfit :)
I laugh (at least, in spirit) whenever someone says that owning a car is "freedom" (esp. in a car-centric area)
What "freedom"? Freedom to be stuck in traffic and have *no other option* in car-centric areas (esp. most of the US)? To be "at the mercy" of any reckless dumbshit on the road, esp. the interstate? Constant frustrations with *idiots* who, clearly, don't even "know how" to properly drive, let alone 'follow the rules'?
let alone drive politely and/or courteously
Yeah, I feel "so liberated" having to use a car to get most-anywhere in my area.
...One major reason why I (hopefully) am moving to Chicago after my car's paid off in late 2027. *crosses fingers*
I used the L (and some CTA buses) *extensively* during a trip to Chicago in 2022, and it was AWESOME!
Or, at least, way preferable to my usual mode of transportation here at home. As time passed, and the day I had to *Go back* came closer and closer, I was more and more anxious. "*sigh* ...gotta deal w/ driving everywhere, again"
'... and now I'm on TH-cam, "Making It"'. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I like the safety angle, but you might have missed that a large contingent of consumers who focus on car safety are deffensive drivers who are more worried about unsafe drivers crashing into them and their family than the other way around.