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Lair Davis (Our Man in Costa Rica) |
| January 21, 2005 |
You are an Addict Ah, it is a beautiful morning! Let’s see how many people I can piss off today. You are an addict. Not a heroin addict, however. I wish you were. You would be less dangerous and detrimental to society if you were a doper. Not only are you an addict, you have more potential to kill than does any strung-out heroin addict. People just like you are killing people at the rate of ten jumbo jet crashes a day. I hope you support the war in Iraq because it is being fought for you and your ilk. You are responsible for most wars these days. Only an addict such as you would send his/her sons and daughters to fight in a war in order to “feed a habit.” I am not kidding. Are you pissed off yet? You are an automobile driver. You are addicted to oil. And just like most heroin addicts, you don’t want to hear or read about your addiction. You think you cannot live without your “drug.” You think driving that gas-guzzling, polluting monstrosity parked in front of your house is beautiful (how sick is that?) and you think it is a necessity in order to live in (____). Fill in the blank: California? Texas? United States? The World? That is how sick — how addicted — how dangerous you are. You are killing me, yourself and everything on this planet because you cannot imagine living without the “independence” of driving your own vehicle. Yes, you are killing yourself, and you deserve to die — but I don’t, your sons and daughter in Iraq do not, and your children and grandchildren do not. I have lived car-free for the past 15 years. That does not mean, of course, that I do not use a share of oil myself. I take taxis, I ride buses and airplanes. I am not perfect in a world that has been designed to feed addiction. A few facts you do not want to know: Parking lots are empty 80 percent of the time: between parking at home, work, and on errands, the average car uses three times the space of an average home. Streets, parking lots and alleyways already take up at least 40 percent of the average downtown in the United States. So tell me, addicts, do you think these percentages will go higher or lower in the coming years? The daily battle with traffic congestion, according to a University of California study, tends to raise drivers’ blood pressure, lower their frustration tolerance, and foster negative moods and aggressive driving. How many of you addicts out there think these behaviors are going to improve in years to come? The average American spends four of his 16 waking hours in his car or working to pay for it. How do YOU spell “o-i-l s-l-a-v-e”? The United States population uses about one billion gallons of motor oil per year, 35 percent of which ends up in environment. Save the forests. Kill the car. Fifty percent of all car trips are five miles or less. You can’t get your over-stuffed, under-exercise body out of your car and waddle a couple of those five miles once in a while? The number of motor vehicles in the United States has grown over 40 percent since 1974, although the human population only grew 16 percent in the same period. Hey, why don’t you just go out there and widen the damn freeway yourself, you addict! |
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(12.24) | (12.31) | (1.7) | (1.14) |
