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Index of Subjects Paul, Brian and all, I've had this conversation a number of times with drivers... and I always found it very difficult. Last night (thurs.) I read something that might help explain why this is: The Sexual Politics Of Meat by Carol Adams. She explains that our narratives around food make it nearly impossible to have a descent conversation about vegetarianism. Just as with meat, we have a lot of our identities enmeshed in whether we drive or not. I remember my first room-mate triumphantly telling me that I'd "never be a man" because I didn't want to drive a car- Honest!! But I'll be the first one to admit that I've also, like my ex-roommate, invested a lot of my identity in this whole affair- only I identified as a "green." This may sound kooky, but the car, like the suburbian home, lawn and meat barbeque are just too central to our culture; those who do not wish to pursue these are always labelled as trouble makers, "radicals," by those who do. And both the mainstream and the rebels usually allow themselves to be so defined by those choices. I think these assumptions are like a default value; when communication starts breaking down, especially when we feel threatened, we resort to these stereotypes. Both Brian's and Paul's points are valid. Brian should be entitled to making a livelihood. Paul's entitled to clean air. Why should these be incompatible? I think the problem is political/corporate, having to do with the design of our cities and transport infrastructures. Here, Transport 2000 seems to be on the right track. Getting personal, asking people to stop using cars risks being seen as accusatory, but the problem is political too. Perhaps getting over these stereotypes, starting with each other's rationale for our behaviours, could lead us into talking about the larger forces in our society that make it incompatible to have a livelihood and being able to breathe. Peace- Daniel. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- You received this because you are subscribed to "sust-mar", the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list. To unsubscribe, send email to <majordomo@chebucto.ns.ca> with "unsubscribe sust-mar" (without quotes) as the body of your message. To post a message to sust-mar subscribers, send it to <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca> Posts that are off-topic or excessive length (10K) will be rejected. For help contact <sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
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