Raise the Hammer

"Of course, the principal reason we North Americans drive cars is that we talk about building public transit but spend our money building all-you-can-drive roads, highways and parking lots."

Uh, no... That's just you providing some self-created 'logic', Ryan. A more accurate quote might be: "Of course in North America some of us talk about building public transit but because of how deeply-entrenched the automobile is in our societal value system, we still spend our money building all-you-can-drive roads, highways and parking lots."

Did you happen to catch some of the discussion at The Toronto Star this week with the article addressing whether that city was a 'bike city'? The vehemence of Torontonians (based not just on the comments, but on the comment voting) concerning driving was quite...well, sobering. And the truth is, it's all the more vehement here in Hamilton.

"Foxcroft's transit defeatism merely advocates continuing to do what we've always done because it's what we've always done."

This might be part of the overall truth connected to his comments. But stepping back a few paces, it's easy to just as quickly say 'Ryan's pro-transit stance merely advocates the change he believes in simply because it makes sense to him...ignoring the reaity that to effect a value change, you won't get where you want to simply by marshalling out the same facts over and over and over again.' That's not what turns people around, gets them thinking in entirely different ways, actually gets them considering change. That might be what you want to believe, but that's not how peoples' behaviour shifts...and it's not how Life works.

This pro-transit citizen wants a less car-centric world...but can't see the sense in railing against things...and expecting change from the resulting volume -and cogency- alone.