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[article] Why Norway — the poster child for electric cars — is having second thoughts | Vox (www.vox.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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Electric cars are crucial, but not enough to solve climate change. We can’t let them crowd out car-free transit options.

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[–] 53 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Cars have become too much of a symbol of clout for many societies. I just wish humanity could get its shit together.

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  • [–] [S] 45 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Broke: I need a car to prove I'm not poor.

    Woke: Cars are the very things keeping us poor.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Is it really something that inpresses other people? I feel cars only impress their owners and they hope other people are as impressed.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Cars are seen as a status symbols in a lot of places, instead of as the utilitarian things they are. Where I'm from people will see you in a better or worse light depending on what you drive, for sure. Most young people get first in debt not for college, but for the 200.000km second or third hand car imported from Germany.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's a far too simple take. Everyone (yes, also you) have biases around cars. And depending on the bias, people want to have these character traits associated with them.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That is exactly, what I mean. It's not so much about impressing other people and more about impressing themselves. They want a big car, because they think, it makes them big. Even people who care about cars don't see every car and think how cool the owner must be.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Understood, yes. 🤔

    What I wanted to point out is that these people are not too wrong in their assumptions. It is, indeed, impressive to society.

    Example, if you look at a shiny new(ish) Mercedes, that's well cleaned, and in perfect shape. What's the first things you attribute to that driver? At least "wealthy/successful to some extent", right? And that's a trait that is impressive in a lot of (capitalist) societies nowadays.

    It's not about whether this is a good or bad thing. It's just something that we need to acknowledge and understand when fighting car centricity. We can't just deny the existence of it.

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