----Original Message Follows----
From: Terrell Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Minneapolis Issues List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [Mpls] A Minneapolis Father's Plea
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 13:12:56 -0700 (PDT)
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Hoover ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
I wonder if Mr Reitman and others who contribute to my 5-year-old son's
asthma every day when they start their cars are willing to pay for his
medical treatment.
[TB] The implication that we should totally ban automobiles, busses
and anything else that pollutes isn't very reasonable, either in
Minneapolis or any other major city.
[JM]Isn't it? I think it's a reasonable request that should be given
serious consideration. Certainly, there are those who don't think it's a
realistic idea, but being someone who survives without a car I know that
it's possible even in our car oriented society. Gary Hoover out does me,
however. He has a family and survives without a car. A city designed for
walking, bussing, and mass transit would be even better (let alone cleaner).
At the very least, Gary's argument deserves to be part of the debate.
Perhaps the solution is somewhere in between where people walk/bike for
short trips, use smaller electric vehicles for medium range and maybe a
hybrid car (or mass transit) for longer trips. Anything that can reduce (or
eliminate) our dependence on foreign oil would be a plus.
[TB]The 'do it for the kid' argument gets a little worn out ... schools ...
asthma ... whatever is the theme of the day. Sometimes its more realistic
to make a change (such as relocate to a less densely
populated area) than to expect a few million people to change for one's
own wishes, even if those wishes have some validity.
[JM]Every change in society starts with an individual's wishes. Expressing
those wishes and involving others in the discussion and eventual action is
called organizing.
[TB]I'll agree that the exhaust of busses going by as I walk to and from
work each day doesn't smell very good and probably isn't the healthiest
thing to breathe, but it probably isn't the worst alternative.
[JM]The fact that it's "not the worst" is hardly proof that there aren't
better alternatives.
[Hoover]
Never mind that each turn of the key in a car ignition switch is a vote
to make my son ill. Never mind that each drive through town is a vote
to make many children ill.
[TB] Or maybe the switch is the vote to go to the job that provides
the money to pay the taxes to support the kid's school.
I choose to live here. I know that there is both good and bad. I
could live somewhere with possibly cleaner air (albeit the stats show
that ours is getting cleaner so we must be doing something right) but
I'm not sure that I like the idea of the things I'd lose. I'd rather
work to make here better.
[JM] Again, this is a false choice. I don't expect Terrell Brown or anyone
else to give up their car immediately, but certainly a discussion of
altneratives for the future is important. Nothing disheartens me more than
politicians and interest groups stating that mass transit is "social
engineering" taking away the "freedom" of cars. Clearly, the opposite is
true. Our "roads and cars only" approach eliminates any other option (and
the other options are clearly better).
[Hoover]No rules apply to us here in the comfort of our cars in Minneapolis.
We are above critique, above any kind of justice, above the laws of
physics, unnassailable and invulnerable.
[TB] I think Randy Moss found that there are some rules.
Some days I really wonder about some of the stuff I read on this list.
[JM] As do I.
Jim McGuire
Como
Hey MTC - How about some low pollution busses? ... its for the kids
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