Pressure from businesses and the auto industry lobbyists, I presume.

Imagine if NYC didn’t give in! Imagine if we didn’t give in to corporate interests on the regular. Imagine if we came together to fight for good community-building things…

I love this. It’s a simple way to train an open-minded carbrain that there are easy ways to convert existing infrastructure on the cheap!

Your feelings are well warranted. I can’t stand how invasive just about every device is these days. From apps to cars.

This is where I’m at. It’s “you do you” so long as it doesn’t harm yourself or others.

I’m so about this life.

I think this comic is supposed to be based in the future.

Seems pretty relevant now as well. Just ask the brave environmental activists with RICO charges in Atlanta, for starters.

RIP Tortuguita

I get into this headspace often, but try to remember that all human systems are subject to being disrupted and dismantled, no matter their power or influence.

This is also implying that common everyday people actually have control or can influence the situation.

Here’s why I take issue with this statement:

• this ignores collective/mass action
• this disregards the few government entities that actually do serve public interests, albeit imperfectly

An example of an individual creating meaningful positive change is teachers. Most people have had a great teacher, and larger schools have greater reach and influence, thus an individual with many students over a period of time can make a big difference at the local level. And one of those students can rise to prominence and do further good.

Another is some benevolent nonprofits that seek government funding to maximize their reach and support of the community. Often they’re run by one or a small handful of folks. If they’re lucky, and prepared, they can affect positive change for many, like community garden organizers.

There can be a large volume of good change from a single person’s actions because of influence. Not saying that it’s a fast mechanism for change, but I refuse to abandon it. Because although it’s likely the only solution we have, it’s still one that is fueled by will and daily choice, which most everyone can enact in small and big ways.

Frankly, if we could just put solidarity of the working class first, we outnumber them.

Truth. Furthermore, accidents involving a bike and a car have mostly happened because of a lack of infrastructure and options for safe travel on bikes. Public residential streets, for example, are for all modes of transportation, not just cars. Car brains are hysterical and don’t like that, and my life has been threatened many times while riding my bike on residential streets. I even had an older woman match my speed, roll down her window, and say “Next time I see you I’m running you over.” Cyclists do absolutely nothing to deserve this, and even if they’re holding up traffic, it’s no excuse for homicide.

Precisely this. People are taught by the wealthy class to devalue certain jobs because they are deemed “lesser than,” and that the people that occupy those jobs are “not worthy” of a living wage, benefits, a stable living situation, respect, and more. This systematic dehumanization prevents us from realizing the true harms that working class people of all backgrounds are experiencing. Of course, the harms are compounded if you identify as a woman, a person of color, a queer person, as having a disability, or if you don’t speak the native language.

Environmental Justice is what we need - a sense of community, mutual support, and a collective realization of past harms that have been baked into every policy, from the local to the federal level. These harmful policies have to be disrupted and dismantled, which can only be possible through education and action. The more people that engage in collective action under the banner of Environmental Justice, the better chance we have of really making meaningful, positive change.

/rant