this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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Fuck Cars

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This community exists as a sister community/copycat community to the r/fuckcars subreddit.

This community exists for the following reasons:

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  1. Be nice to each other. Being aggressive or inflammatory towards other users will get you banned. Name calling or obvious trolling falls under that. Hate cars, hate the system, but not people. While some drivers definitely deserve some hate, most of them didn't choose car-centric life out of free will.

  2. No bigotry or hate. Racism, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, homophobia, chauvinism, fat-shaming, body-shaming, stigmatization of people experiencing homeless or substance users, etc. are not tolerated. Don't use slurs. You can laugh at someone's fragile masculinity without associating it with their body. The correlation between car-culture and body weight is not an excuse for fat-shaming.

  3. Stay on-topic. Submissions should be on-topic to the externalities of car culture in urban development and communities globally. Posting about alternatives to cars and car culture is fine. Don't post literal car fucking.

  4. No traffic violence. Do not post depictions of traffic violence. NSFW or NSFL posts are not allowed. Gawking at crashes is not allowed. Be respectful to people who are a victim of traffic violence or otherwise traumatized by it. News articles about crashes and statistics about traffic violence are allowed. Glorifying traffic violence will get you banned.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Isn't this meme format supposed to be satirical? Everything in this one is unironically true.

[–] okamiueru@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The right most image there is certainly not real

[–] Wage_slave@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Even while having a car, I found my self taking transit anyways. To the point where both my daughters (15 and 17) have absolutely no desire to get a car or their drivers because not only do they see what's happening to the climate, but know transit well enough that vehicles are next to pointless for them. My understanding is that many, not all, of their friends thing the same way, too.

That, and I don't care if you drive a BMW. My ride costs 150k, and comes with a driver who opens the door for me. Fuck cars and the status that goes with 'em, too.

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[–] IzzyData@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

I hope to some day live somewhere that allows me to take a train to where I want to go mid to long distance and the ability to walk short distance to the rest.

[–] pipows@lemmy.today 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Here's the thing: I live in a mid sized city in Brazil. As in America, Brazil is very car centric (thanks, Kubitschek). But there's no trains. The capital city of my state has a single urban train line, and I think it's the only in the whole state, that's as big as France.

Your options here are:

  • use a car and endure the traffic;
  • get a poor planned, crowded and falling apart bus, and endure the traffic, because they rarely have exclusive lanes;
  • get a motorcycle, so you can split lanes and get through the traffic, but risking your life and not being able to carry more than one (adult) person and a handful of small items;
  • or use a bicycle in this very hilly and mountainous place, with close to no infrastructure to make it less risky.

I chose to use a motorcycle (although I couldn't afford one yet because we're poor), but I understand that for anyone with a family, owning a car is not a choice, it's a necessity (and it's a very expensive one)

[–] puppy@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Time to make it a political movement then. Because the people who have any sort of power to make significant changes are politicians.

[–] pipows@lemmy.today 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

First we have to convince people here that this is a problem at all. Most people think that the solution to the traffic problem is more roads, more lanes, cheaper cars, and better buses.

The buses are bad? Just make them better. There are too many cars in the streets? Just make better streets

Buses are that bad usually because they are a monopoly or very close to it. The government chooses which company can do public transportation by rigged licitations, and no other company can do it. Then they have no reason at all to do a good job.

Most people seem to have given up on the idea of more train lines. No company can do it, only the government. Every politician promised it, but adding train lines to an existing city is very hard, so none do

[–] puppy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Agree to all points. Sadly this is prevalent among countries with political corruption (my country included). And these are the countries that have the least buying power for general public and therefore the the societies that would most benefit from public transport and micro mobility infrastructure.

Hopefully having a global discussion helps bring out awareness. My local politicians regard the US as some sort of gold standard, therefore I am hopeful whenever the US makes "fuck cars" infrastructure changes.

[–] Rhaedas@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The only issue I have with this take is how it ignores how the changes happened over decades, not overnight. Of course no one would choose any of these pictures, but that's not how it started out, and the slow changes is exactly why we bought into the idea. It also can't be easily undone or changed, even in a progressive society.

[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

the slow changes is exactly why we bought into the idea.

And slow changes can bring us back.

It also can't be easily undone or changed, even in a progressive society.

Who said it had to be easy? Most things worth doing aren't.

It is more important that the goal will serve us and that it will bring us value. That we are unwilling to postpone longer before it becomes even harder.

The Netherlands chose to do this when it was easy (easier anyway). Canada and the US made the choice to postpone then.

Other nations are chosing now, should we join them now? Or should he wait until the damage is even harder to undo? How many more must we slaughter and maim in the streets? How much more must we pollute our environment? Do we chose to act, or do we wait until action is forced upon us?

Evey road in north american must be resurfaced every 10-50 years. Car don't last much longer that 20. That means without any additional resources, this can be done in about 15 years.

[–] OpenStars@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

"They" are us. As we change things, they get changed:-). Slowly but surely... it's happening!

[–] ech@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I get this is absurd on purpose, but I don't think having a decent amount of groceries on hand is crazy. I don't drive and I aim to not have to go to the store every other day. 2 weeks seems about right for grocery store frequency.

[–] Maoo@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

When grocery stores are close (walkable) it becomes super convenient to just go there every few days instead of managing a stockpile of food. Works way better for small spaces and for eating fresh foods. Don't knock it til you try it!

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[–] spez_@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] zeekaran@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

I can easily get two weeks of groceries in my bike.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
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[–] kool_newt@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

I should start handing these flyers out at gas stations on Sunday on the I15 from Vegas back to California. People feeling like shit hung over cursing traffic for hours on end, the usefulness of a train alternative is super apparent in this situation.

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Are there any non-extremist anti-car communities around? I hate cars too, but I also hate simple, blanket solutions like the world is easy or something.

For some people, not driving is just death from starvation. So, no. Thanks though.

[–] mondoman712@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't see anything extremist in this community. It's mostly complaining about problems with cars and a few memes like this post. Talking about alternatives is fine here, as per the rules. There isn't much as far as other communities to discuss alternatives, at least not that I've found. Here's what I can point to:

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The ironic thing is that there really is a "simple, blanket solution" in this case: changing the zoning code to stop outlawing density.

It's not a fast solution -- the law can be changed at the stroke of a pen, but the redevelopment enabled by the rule change will occur over years and years -- but it's the only one that actually solves the problem.

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Blanket, yes. Simple, no. Not unless you think politics is simple.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, that's fair.

[–] IzzyData@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

For some people, not driving is just death from starvation

That seems like the exact kind of thing many people are against. All of this was by design in order to create a dependence on cars. This is not how it has to be. There are a lot of alternatives that are worth investing in.

I don't believe anyone would suggest to immediate destroy all cars right this second without putting in any kind of necessarily alternative infrastructure. That would be a pretty extreme stance on the matter.

I would like to see the US government stop subsidizing cars and start subsidizing alternatives such as trains so that maybe in 30-50 years we can start to see that it is possible to live without driving a car.

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[–] Frogodendron@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I agree with the message but it feels weird considering this flavour of memes was meant to be a hyperbole / sarcasm / laugh at your own expense.

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