A Poverty of Imagination
A recent New York Times article about the move away from car ownership gives a typical and maddeningly narrow-minded explanation of the trend’s causes.
Whether because of cost, convenience or environmental awareness, a small but growing number of people are making individual decisions to get rid of their automobiles and rely on public transportation, car-sharing programs and rental cars.
Granted, the article is in the automotive section (bicycles are mentioned only briefly), but the list or reasons above (cost, convenience, environment) is typical in articles on the renaissance of the bicycle as well. They are all fine reasons, but don’t get at the heart of the movement away from private automobiles. People sense that something is missing in their lives, in the lives of families, and in their communities. Call it cohesion, social capital, togetherness–whatever. It isn’t something like money, time, or environmental degradation that can be measured in a lab, but its loss is acutely felt and quietly mourned. Part of the problem is the reductionism that has occurred in public discourse. Mainstream public discourse is very bad at illuminating and discussing the non-material, non-measurable goods necessary for human flourishing. And even if you’re the most radical of radical materialists (meaning that you don’t believe that anything exists which cannot be reduced to the five senses) our present understanding cannot fully explain–in purely empirical terms–human existence and our need for togetherness and belonging.
People aren’t merely moving away from private cars because they want to be lean and green–they’re moving toward walking, biking, and public transport because those forms of getting to and fro foster healthier human relationships. Family and community cohesion are not served well by the private automobile, which is our most anti-social shaper of the physical environment and the mores of a community. When automobiles are the dominant form of transport people tend to become atomized individuals with lives that are spread far too thin. Even if the desire isn’t always articulated by those who choose more humane forms of transport, their most attractive benefit is they foster a sense of belonging to the places in which and the people with which you live, rather than the interminable sense of just passing through.
Tags: Reductionism
Anthony, what an excellent post!
I haven’t had time to chase down your links yet, but plan to do so. The message, however, is what I’ve been thinking for a little while. Thank you for saying this.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from you.
It has always struck me that the reason to ride a bike is the same as the reason to ride a motorcycle: a sense of freedom. One just uses a different type of engine.
For me, it is actually the opposite of a sense of community. I do most of my riding by myself, exploring country roads. My riding stems from a desire to get away from the constant interaction of our daily lives (even if that interaction does mostly take the form of pixels these days). For “me time”; for personal reflection, there is nothing quite like the solitude provided by my bike and a long stretch of deserted country highway.
Thanks, Chris.
Granted, Todd. But I think we’re talking about two different types of riding (though they sometimes overlap). I wouldn’t trade having my shop two blocks from my house for a long commute, but I do miss the meditative quality of long rides to and from work (I worked at a shop for some time that was eighteen miles from my house. Such time obviously has value. But in the post I’m talking about how transportation modes affect our sense of belonging to a place and out ability to connect to our family and neighbors.
I used a bicycle as a primary source of transportation for about 5 years back in the early 80′s, as well as in the 70′s. I regret getting away from it.
Unfortunately our communities today are that in name only, the scale of the automobile creates a massiveness that dwarfs the true human scale. Take a look at the layout of any big box store shopping center versus and older downtown retail area.
We will have to work to reverse that trend and bring the communities back to the people, the bicycle can go a long ways in doing that.
Aaron
this is an excellent commentary. it displays contact with significant ideas and cultural resources. it makes me wonder about you because Ive never met anybody working in a bike shop that has the kind of analytical and conceptual depth you exhibit!