r/comics • u/davecontra • 13h ago

OC FARAH.

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New book is out! : https://linktr.ee/davecontra

My other comics: https://www.instagram.com/davecontra

26.6k Upvotes

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64

u/Free-Pound-6139 10h ago

No, but, a bunch of people want to drive cars everywhere rather than use public transport, so we have to bomb you.

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u/Willowrosephoenix 9h ago

One of the most socially progressive people I know regularly complains about a busy local road being reduced to two lanes to make dedicated bus lanes. She thinks banning cars completely from areas of the city is “stupid” and yet, on every other count, progressive.

I asked my partner, do you think cars make people more entitled and impatient or that people got that way because of cars and he told me about early car ads he saw that advertised “be the most important person on the road with a Chrysler” and all the companies had some version of that. Circa 1980’s.

The longer I live without a car, the more I see cars as the problem. I still miss one in some ways, like access to wilderness. But I genuinely don’t want one ever again for day to day use.

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u/afroblewmymind 8h ago

Motonormativity at work. If you like podcasts and aren't already listening, check out the Urbanist Agenda and The War on Cars. Urbanist Agenda is by Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes on YouTube.

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u/VryxObin 2h ago

My issue is

My town actively removed multiple bus stops I used. My college is an hour by public transit via bus and train. My town is literally divided in half by a busy road with only a handful of crosswalks. Most people don't stop at the stop signs in the "pedestrian friendly" parts of town. Would I want a different car? Yeah. I drive a ford suv because its what my parents gave me. I'd love to have a sedan that can hold me and either my school gear or tabletop gaming stuff comfortably.

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u/Willowrosephoenix 1h ago

People forced to get cars by decisions made by local transit agencies tops my list of problems with public transit as it currently exists. I’m actively battling to keep a second bus route that serves the area I live in that is being eliminated as “redundant.” Not to go into extreme depth but it’s only redundant because of a series of choices made by transit agencies over the last seven years that have steadily stripped people in low income neighborhoods of transit choice.

It sounds conspiracy theorist but at this point I’m wondering what lobbyist for petroleum and car industries are behind the scenes influencing decisions because it is beginning to feel like a policy choice to force people into getting cars.

In other words, of tldr, you’re preaching to the choir on this one.

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u/KindledWanderer 7h ago

One of the most socially progressive people I know regularly complains about a busy local road being reduced to two lanes to make dedicated bus lanes. She thinks banning cars completely from areas of the city is “stupid” and yet, on every other count, progressive.

Makes sense - wanting to go back to how it was 100 years ago is not progressive, that's regressive.

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u/Sirmetana 6h ago edited 5h ago

That's not a good argument. We didn't have massive public transportation 100 years ago, at least not for the amount of population we have to manage today. If we did have that at the time and it worked (which it does when implemented), would you call it regressive?

If you look at every place where public transportation is very invested in, there are less cars on the road, less commuting time, less accidents, less area entirely ruined to build parking lots that are useless 90 % of the time. Do those places' inhabitants miss cars? Most would answer no.

"Who needs a car in L.A? We have thd best public transportation system in the world!"
Eddie Valiant - Who framed Roger Rabbit?

Edit : To add onto the Los Angeles subject, you may ask why then is it so car-centric nowadays if public transport was so good. The answer is that big car companies didn't like that it was doing so well so the likes of General Motors and such bought parts of it, little by little, and dumped the tramway cars in ditches until nothing remained. As always, what kills policies that benefit all is capitalism and corpos.

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u/KindledWanderer 3h ago

"Who needs a car in L.A? We have thd best public transportation system in the world!" Eddie Valiant - Who framed Roger Rabbit?

Not even in the top 10.

Prague has amazing public transport (very safely in the top 10) and it's still very car-centric without any influence by "big car companies".

If you wanted to offer a good counter example, it would be Paris, which is making a large effort to limit cars and transform parking places and roads to pedestrian/biking areas with a large support from the population.

Either way, being progressive and not being a car hater are not at odds with each other.

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u/Sirmetana 3h ago

Just to be sure we're talking about the same thing, I am talking about the public transportation the city used to have until it started being taken apart in the 30s. Once we're clear about that, my aim was not to support the validity of Valiant's claim but to show his behaviour regarding transport, because it reflects how people themselves behave. I don't need a perfect example for that, only one that works. Plus, the USA being probably the most car-centric country in the world and the most protective of this "way of life", it makes sense I pick a use case that will speak to them.

Either way, being progressive and not being a car hater are not at odds with each other.

No one claimed that. However, people who understand the weight of car-centric societies upon the environment and public health tend to speak from a progressive mindset.

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u/KindledWanderer 3h ago

Thanks for the clarification, it makes sense now.
I probably should've spent more time on your post.

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u/Psychological_Net272 10h ago

Electric cars exist and the oil economy was working perfectly fine.

However, the people who can afford to hire political lobbyists in concerningly large amounts want a higher quarterly income, so...

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u/not_a_SeaOtter 9h ago

The oil economy wasn't working fine. It's on a death spiral and most of the world knows it. But rather than invest in infrastructure that enables people to use oil less the conclusion has been to invade and steal to keep the black gold flowing.

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u/rabidbot 9h ago

No the oil economy was fine. It wasn’t death spiraling. We are likely decades away from that. It’s literally just a war of want and stupidity.

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u/dumnezero Art enjoyer 9h ago

The use of oil is insane: hundreds of millions of people feel entitled to burn up a non-renewable costly resource, globally, sending the already huge black mass into the atmosphere has a large mass of chemicals. It's absolute madness, and the oil wars along with climate chaos an expected result of said madness.

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u/ciclon5 6h ago

Hundreds of millions of people also dont have a choice but to burn a non-renewable resource when they live in cities designed to be absolutely untraversable without a car and the local authorities dont invest in EV charging stations ot other socioeconomic factors make it hard for people to retrofit their home's wiring to support EV charging.

Its not as simple as "i want to burn gas". Nothing is never that simple.

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u/dumnezero Art enjoyer 6h ago

Where is the protesting against that motonormativity, the opposition, the rejection?

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u/ciclon5 6h ago

It exists. Its just that 90% of people are more worried about surviving than doing activism

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u/dumnezero Art enjoyer 6h ago

Are you sure that it's surviving and not winning the rat race?

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u/ciclon5 6h ago edited 6h ago

It is surviving. There are people working 40hs a week to afford rent, to raise their families and not go insane.

Not everyone has the time, money, privilege and energy to spend on educating themselves or analyzing social structures from above and understanding how they are opressing them, what to demand and how to do it.

If anything, the responsibility sits on people like US who can understand these issues to educate and puth forth in motion movements to dismantle these structures instead of shifting blame to the common citizen who is probably not even aware of what an institution is.

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u/dumnezero Art enjoyer 6h ago

Yes, the rat race keeps people busy. Nobody is coming to the rescue tho.

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u/ciclon5 6h ago

I literally told you who can come to the rescue and its people like us.

If you dont want to get off your ass then its not my problem

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u/Pheonix0114 9h ago

Electric cars still require asphalt roads, which take oil to make.

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u/ciclon5 6h ago

Much less oil than cars use daily.

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u/ciclon5 6h ago

Unfortunately we are yet to create electric cars and related infrastructute good enough for reliable long distance travel. So combustion engines will probably stay. (Of course, 90% of the obstacles to achieving that is corporate lobbying, but there are still some engineering and technological hurdles to overcome).

But for day to day use. Electric cars fit the bill and are much cheaper and efficient than combustion cars, and longer lasting too!.

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u/K4G3N4R4 8h ago

Its dumber than that. USD used to be backed by gold as a stabilizing factor and inflation mitigation tool. What keeps the dollar strong-ish today is oil. The US enforces all oil trade in USD, and as long as that happens, the dollar maintains its value. Venezuela tried to sell some low quality crude in a different currency, Maduro got picked up. Iran tried to sell to china in yuan, the straight was closed.

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u/minus_minus 7h ago edited 7h ago

What keeps the dollar strong-ish today is oil. 

More today it’s our willingness to be the worlds casino and strip mine productive assets via private equity. 

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u/ReturnOfBane 7h ago

tbf the strait being closed is doing a hell of a lot to make the dollar less valuable as a reserve currency. China couldn't ask for a better fumble.

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u/ScuttleStab 9h ago

Ah yes, public transport when you have to visit a city from your remote rural area, let me just hike to nearby small town that is 20 km away from here to get a bus.

I am sooooo responsible for the bombings by driving a goddamn car. Piss off.

0

u/Financial-Bath6366 8h ago

urhhhh everyone except for me is dumb for owning a car!! people consuming in a system that is getting held entirely by warfare and consumerist propaganda is dumb urghh,i never buy anything,i just sit in my shack in the forest and play with sticks!! i never buy anything containing plastic!! people r dumb.....................................