The Car and Society

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The Car and Society

The automobile has had a tremendous impact on society and the environment since its development in the beginning of the 20th century. Today, there are over 500 million motor vehicles on the earth. The automobile's efficiency, style, and performance have changed over the years, but there is one thing that has not - the pollution the automobile generates. Because of the pollution, people find themselves asking whether this technology has helped our society or hurt it. Should the consequences of the automobile be cause to eliminate it? Or should science develop technology to eliminate the pollution caused by the car?

Some people believe that the benefits of the automobile far outweigh the consequences. These people enjoy their privacy and the convenience of the automobile. There are no schedules to keep track of. A person can come and go from a destination at their own free will. They also have the ability to travel and see scenery that people limited to public transportation cannot. Today there is about one car on the road for every person of driving age in the United States. People for alternative forms of transportation think that people who support cars should be penalized for using them. They believe that they should pay more taxes for the convenience of owning an automobile. In Europe, anti-auto policies are in effect and Europeans still buy cars. James Q. Wilson in "Cars and Their Enemies" gives the example, "Despite policies that penalize car use, make travel expensive, and restrict parking spaces, Europeans, once they can afford to do so, buy cars, and drive them" (306). Cars are just too convenient to get rid of.

What are some of the reasons people are so against cars? They are so against cars...

... middle of paper ...

...loped to advance our society. Many say that today we are paying for it with our health and our earth is suffering. Others believe that there are parts of this earth that our children would never have been able to see had it not been for the automobile. Fortunately, we live in a democratic society and are given certain freedoms. One of those freedoms is the freedom of choice. As long as our society is given a choice, our society will choose the automobile for all of the reasons it benefits us. The environment is important, but scientists should develop a product that will protect the earth from harmful emissions of the automobile, not eliminate the car.

Work Cited

Wilson, James Q. "Cars and Their Enemies." The Presence of Other; Voices and Images That Call for Response. Ed. Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. 306-312.

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