On 9/15/07, jon louis mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > the fact is > that the oil and automobile industries are critical to global > capitalism and i do not see those powerful lobbies allowing alternative > modes of transportation to develop.
I would hope that it's not that simple... but for those who don't know the history, there is a very sad story from the 1950s of how automobile and related industries destroyed much of America's mass transit infrastructure... in the name of progress. The promise was that they would replace old trolley lines with modern, new efficient buses. They formed a company, National City Lines, that bought the streetcar systems and tore them out virtually the next day. Then they sold the cities crappy buses. Eventually, GM was fined a whopping $5,000 and each executive of the involved companies had to pay a whole dollar. Now those streetcar lines are being rebuilt at a cost of billions and billions of dollars. As I said, it's just sad... but the real lesson, I think, is to watch out when the powerful claim "progress." That was the buzzword that got a lot of the public support behind them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy My commute varies tremendously. Sometimes I stop in the bathroom on the way from our bedroom to the ofice. That probably triples my time. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
