Ryan Skinner Final Revelations

Autonomy

“The voluntariness of departure, the freedom implicit in the indeterminacies of mobility, the pleasure of travel free from necessity, the notion the travel signifies autonomy and is a means for demonstrating what one “really” is independent of one context or set of defining associations – remain the characteristics of the modern conception of travel.” -Eric Leed, Republic of Drivers (Page 21)

One of pleasures of driving is having autonomy on your decisions whether it be to get off the next exit and go to your destination or drive past to go get lost.  The freedom that comes with being behind the wheel of a car is one of the main reasons I believe that the automobile industry grew so quickly. I had never realized that one of the reasons that women and nonwhites had no autonomy was because they had limited access to a car, and even when they were able to operate a vehicle, they were discriminated against.

Consumerism

“Here consumption offered a direct link to republican citizenship, understood as a material stake in the stability of the current order.” Republic of Drivers (Page 35)

Around the time that the car came about, the economy had crashed and people didn’t have much to hang their hat on. Consumerism provided an avenue to normalcy in a time of great despair. It shouldn’t be surprising that what was one a treat for the rich then became a necessity for everyone because of the lowering in price. The car was an avenue to freedom and an avenue back to a sense of normalcy that was much needed at that time.

Collusion

“This money has historically gotten results: of the top 15 Senate recipients of (the car) industry largesse, not one voted for a 2005 bill raising fuel economy standards for cars.” Carjacked (Page 9)

I had never really known just how much influence that political contributions by big industry had on the political process. I had heard that there was somewhat of an influence but I did not think it applied to what seems like a common sense decision. With transportation being a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it would appear like voting in favor of raise fuel economy standards as a forgone conclusion. But sadly, money talks in our society and just because some politicians got some money for their campaigns, they choose to make an idiotic decision.

Lesbaru

“Just ask a group of American males whether they would willingly drive a Subaru wagon, widely known as a “Lesbaru” based on its reputation for being popular with gay women, to their weekly basketball game.” Carjacked (Page 57)

So, I think I missed the memo on the whole Lesbaru thing. I actually got a Subaru in May without ever hearing about his stereotype and the first time my friends saw it was when I drove to play some pick-up basketball. I don’t think knowing that Subarus were consider lesbian cars would have changed my decision because it is a perfect car for Vermont. Although there is nothing wrong with have a car that is popular with gay women, it’s silly that this stereotype would affect someone’s decision.

Expense

“In the shadows remain the many other routes to less expensive driving: more durable cars and tires, more affordable insurance, higher fuel efficiency standards, and better land use planning.” Carjacked (Page 90)

It’s sad that so much money could be saved if only things were done a little differently. If only the goal of car companies was to provide its customers with the best product technology could put together, but that is not the goal, it is to get people to buy as many cars as possible. If only communities were not built for the car. If only car companies made their cars as fuel efficient as soon as possible, not when mandated. If any of those things happened, the cost of owning a car would not be as significant.

Radical

I don’t have a quote from the books to go with this but when I was reading “Geography of Nowhere” by James Howard Kunstler, I realized that I have somewhat radical views. I think I remember Dr. Williams saying that Kunstler is regarded as a more radical thinker and when reading his book, I found that I identified with him on many things. He had some ideas about how we live our lives and how he thinks we should structure society that are very different to what we have now. I’ve known that things have to change in the future but I think there needs to be a more radical change sooner than people think.

Brains

I had heard of the whole two brain, left-right division before this class but never anything about the triune brain. The thought of having three different sections of your brain that function very differently is pretty crazy to think about. It’s especially interesting to think about how the media targets one of the three different brains based on what their goal is. I don’t think I’ll ever look at advertisements the same after learning about how ads are so targeted for different reasons.

Advertising

Speaking of advertising…it will be difficult to watch a commercial and not start deconstructing it from now on. I had never taken any kind of media course before so it was really eye-opening to see what kind of techniques companies use to try to get us to buy their products. Even while I was trying to write this assignment, a car commercial came on and I started to think about all the different production techniques present. I hated commercials and ads before this class because I think they are unnecessary but at least now I have something to do during them.

Stewardship

“Nearly eradicated in the rush to profit was the concept of stewardship, of land as a public trust: that we who are alive now are responsible for taking proper care of the landscape so that future generations can swell in it in safety and happiness.” Geography of Nowhere (Page 26)

Another thing that seems like common sense to some is so foreign for others, not only stewardship of the land but stewardship of ourselves. Before this class, I didn’t take into account the damage that cars have done to the environment and the threats is poses to our bodies. Since the invention of the car we have changed the face of the Earth and it is largely unrecognizable compared to how it looked before. Also, the risks we put ourselves in just by driving a car and the risks that the unhealthy emissions that come from cars just adds to the list of negatives that I have realized comes from vehicles.

The Future

“…because it was a foolish waste of resources in the first place, and it remains to be seen whether its components can be recycled, converted to other uses, or moved, or even whether the land beneath…can be salvaged. In the meantime, Americans are doing almost nothing to prepare for the end of the romantic dream that was the American automobile age.” Geography of Nowhere (Page 114)

The thing I keep thinking about and coming back to as being one of the main reasons we have all the problems such as dwindling resources and global warming etc. is that we were inefficient with our planning and the car facilitated  those bad decisions so well. We transformed the face of the planet so that we could drive our cars almost wherever we wanted. We designed our communities based on what would be best for the car, not what would be best for us as people. We did all of this without thinking about the future and what consequences our actions would have when it comes. The picture above is from the 50s and it’s telling that they couldn’t think about a future without cars and it shows in how they shaped our society.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful semester, especially Dr. Williams. This was by far my favorite class I have taken in college and I will take the lessons I have learned from our readings and discussions to make more informed decisions in the future.