Actually, i'm not sure how I decide what is 'within reason' either.
That is what I find most interesting, I think. What information do people require to draw the lines they draw, and what information/influences would make them move those lines? At least you're thinking about it.
...Narx' are you a member of any socialist parties? 'cause you sound a bit like one
I mean... If the Government were to tax every car modification and contribute that money back into the health care/education then we'd be doing something good for society... but they won't. Yay! corporate tax cuts!
Believe it or not I have a Bachelor of Economics which was an almost entirely neoliberal education. I spend my time now reading books that help me understand that the shit I learned in uni is largely inapplicable or at the very least misguided in the real world.
On your other comment, this would be a good way to force people to spend more on those things (if indirectly), but I am concerned with why people don't do it voluntarily on a larger scale than they do now. Other than forcing it, how could you get people to divert their resources to things that yield a greater net benefit to society (as I outlined before) than their private spending does?
Are you calling me a fence sitter? or maybe you're calling me the epitomy of the everage response? Either one is fine with me.
(just let me know if I should be offended, or happy, or if you were refering to cheese)
I didn't even think about your forum name when I wrote that. It was meant to be a witty, dairy-based remark. Sorry!
I pollute, I waste big money on camshafts, I waste resources
What would it take to make you change your behaviour?
Having another HONEST read of this thread,
Are you fishing for people to say "I'm a tosser, I pollute, I waste big money on camshafts, I waste resources"? I don't understand the point of your post. You might as well say, why do you like to wear the colour yellow? People arn't born the same, have you thought the appreciation, feeling of adrenalin, freedom of fun associated with cars?
appreciation - i build up a house, yeh sure i'm proud of it, I can't exactly take it for a nice summers day cruise can I?
adrenalin - sorry, I can't climb on a rollercoaster at 2am when I feel like it, oh wait, I can't adjust the corners in it to make it more fun either, maybe I can race a few friends with their rollercoasters to see who can finish first?
fun - I can't take my rollercoaster to a bbq picnic with friends on a nice sunday either.
I honestly DO NOT care about polluting (if it was that bad, shit will be going down ASAP), the real problem is our population growing so fucking fast. Cars back in 1970 we're WORSE than nowdays. A race car driven once a week with fuel pumping out it's arse won't harm much compared to that person driving a car in peak hour traffic everyday.
I'm sorry, I don't like analysing art, watching sport religiously, playing cards, drinking wine, pulling weeds from the garden, or whatever. Maybe i'm not old enough yet?
But i'm sure alot of us think along the same lines. Cars are a personality of mine, they extend me beyond my physical appearance.
Sorry if it's on the agressive side, i'm fucking raging at the moment.
This is pretty much exactly the response I'm looking for. I'm trying my best not to be pretentious or holier-than-thou in this thread. Sometimes I worry, a lot, about the things other people do that I think they shouldn't do, and I wonder what are the real fundamental differences that make them do those things, whereas I do not?
Your motivations for liking and being passionate about cars are entirely justified, and I would be lying out my arse if I said I disagreed with all of it. I get the same rush as anybody driving like the Stig. Where we seem to differ is in our evaluation of the alternatives (and perhaps I don't get quite as jolly as you about boost kicking in etc) - I can't hobbyise cars knowing what I know about the alternative uses of those resources, and the costs that come with doing it, etc etc. You do not draw the same line, but presumably you have a line - I assume you would be hesitant about the 2am joyrides if you had to sacrifice a baby each time!
So, the question(s) is why is your line different from mine? Is it just our different personalities? We have access to roughly the same information about alternatives, but perhaps we put different stock in that information. What would it take for you to draw your line where I draw mine? What do you need for that to be a realistic possibility?
For example, if I could be persuaded that cars could be made sustainable (in terms of fuel, infrastructure etc), and if there were no causes out there which were visibly for want of resources (e.g. if there were no homeless people because enough public housing was available), I think I would quite willingly hobbyise cars (as indeed I nearly have done many times over).