Death By Car

This is a blog that totally speaks my language.  It is called "Death By Car: Capitalism's Drive to Carmageddon".  I sometimes feel that humankind needed at least a little more time in the evolutionary process before discovering and using fossil fuels.  We might have been able to use them more responsibly.  As it is, we have already exhausted at least half of the oil reserves on this planet, and it does not seem as if we have nearly the time or the resources to switch over to some kind of alternative energy source, at least not painlessly. 

I feel that a strong case can be made that our coming reckoning with reality could have been averted were it not for the invention (maybe, if not the invention, than at least the widespread use) of the automobile.  Say what you will about the plastics, our toys, all the crap that is made with oil, cars have been (by far) the single foremost entity that is pushing us off the cliff.  After all, the invention and widespread use of the car led to the development of the suburb, a place where owning a car is mandatory.  You can't walk to the local market, the cafe, or your job.  You have to drive, sometimes at great distances, just to do basic, everyday things.  I shudder to think how much "liquid gold" would still be in the ground if the powers that be had decided on a different living arrangement for the American people than the almighty suburb.  I highly recommend reading Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" and "The Geography of Nowhere" (the former dealing with peak oil, the latter with suburban sprawl), he gives a great overview of these two interconnected issues.