Yes those trucks look scary. Except for government trucks.I'll assume the truck which government took from you is stockpiled right next to all the guns they have also taken away from folks.
Yes those trucks look scary. Except for government trucks.I'll assume the truck which government took from you is stockpiled right next to all the guns they have also taken away from folks.
The history of ballot initiatives passed in your state then denied by the courts.
Billions, probably significantly more billions than will be poured into this in the next 5 years, had been poured into hardware and software as a service, but everyone still owns their own computer. Could we all get by cheaper with a thin client, decent internet, and an Amazon instance? Sure, but it's not happening. Obviously this isn't a perfect analogy, but the point stands that billions and ability didn't always output to reality.Here’s the reality: driverless cars are going to be THE thing. Car ownership in 10 years is going to be rare and it won’t exist except for collectibles in 20. Bank on it.
There are literally BILLIONS being poured into “cars as a service”.
I'm assuming this will be unaffordable for most, including me. It basically mirrors what we have now, so it's not really doing way with ownership so much and changing the nature of it. And making it prohibitively expensive.1) Service membership where you have 100% use of the vehicle, it’ll domicile with you and use a designated parking spot after dropping you off at work, grocery or wherever you went. It’ll then pick you up, drop you off and park itself where you’ve designated. This is where Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Ford, GM are aiming.
This is probably the middle class American solution and it simply won't work for a lot of people. Like me for instance. Also I feel like it's going to increase traffic. I'm not sure why, that's just the sense I'm getting. They thought Uber would reduce traffic in mayor cities, but it made it worse because now there's piles and piles of Uber drivers milling around waiting to get hailed for a ride. Anyway, I cannot, and neither can a lot of other Americans, designate a time to get of work. I shoot for a certain time, but it happens when it happens. This isn't feasible for likely several thousand people in the Austin area. Which means I'm either going to be such with option 1 which I can't afford, or option 3...2) Service membership where you have A car at your disposal when you need it. It’ll pick you up at a designated tome and drop you off. Another of a fleet of similar vehicles will pick you up and drop you off, etc. The car will simply be in constant use until it isn’t needed and it will return to a depot lot until it is needed. This is where Uber is aiming.
3) Service membership where you have what amounts to a ride sharing service.
You may be carpooling to work or the grocery, but it’s a relatively direct path. There may be different tiers with unlimited use and another with limited uses. I can see a lot of public transportation being redirected toward subsidizing these kinds of services for elderly passengers as it’s way more efficient than current van services. Medical vans would still have a person on board for loading and assistance, they just wouldn’t be driving.
Also, expect for municipalities including super congested areas to be “driverless zones”. Areas like lower Manhattan, downtown LA, etc.
And here’s how it’s going to happen.
Once Level 4 automation is out... and it’s only 1-3 years since away, the actuarial tables will show such a staggering difference between the safety of autonomous vehicles versus driven cars that the insurance rates to drive will spike...obscenely. It will be untenable for people of modest means to drive.
You’ll have no choice. It’s not just coming, it’s already been decided. It’s here and in beta and it’s only a question of WHEN it happens.
Wife and I bought a 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring and it’s an amazing ride. And... we’re clear it’s the last car we’ll ever buy.
The only thing everyone from Tesla to Uber to Hertz is trying to work out are the logistics.
This is the most inevitable change since the adoption of the automobile and it’ll happen faster. MUCH faster. Bank on it.
Dude! You need to chill.What words, ... ilk, is that what you constitute as disrespectful ? I dismissed the Adams post as it was completely irrelevant to the original discussion. You have opted towards personal opinion and lack credible quotes from the Founders that you brought into the conversation, now I am left to ponder how tough it may be to become a 'credentialed historian'. Posing scholarly works is rich, when do they begin to show ?
Fucking kidding me? Is this your idea of "getting back on point" or not trying to incite? You are just begging for a political fight here and don't even try to deny it. So back off NOW.I'll assume the truck which government took from you is stockpiled right next to all the guns they have also taken away from folks.
Dude! You need to chill.
freaking kidding me? Is this your idea of "getting back on point" or not trying to incite? You are just begging for a political fight here and don't even try to deny it. So back off NOW.
This is where I was called a "conspiracy nut" for seeing a liberty issue with this whole Brave New World. A convenience becomes a mandate. This whole idea may not be as inevitable, or desirable as many think.People in rural areas will be even more resistant, the cost for the service would be outrageously expensive while trying to service areas where incomes are lower by in large, people use their vehicles for far more than transportation, and I highly doubt Uber is going to be putting gun and bow racks in their cute little transport vehicles.
Are you familiar with the rural life? Traveling farm acreage and into town are not that daunting. Oh will they be granted waivers by the anointed? How nice of them. Surely this won't kill off the already struggling family farms. You cannot drive entire populations into population centers, as the elite dream of.As for the higher cost of living in rural areas, those folks already pay a premium due to the higher amount of travel & time required, so they understand that fuel consumption and wear & tear are associated with those extra miles needed to get anywhere. Farm & Ranch vehicles are likely to receive some form of exemption, at least in the short term, but so long as rural areas are equipped with the means to recharge an electric automobile (driver or driverless), they won't escape saving on fuel costs any more than their urban cousins. jmo
Noooo. California government is FRIEND to the farmer. They wouldn't do anything to kill off that breadbasket.While there remains a vast difference in political aims between urban & rural citizens, California farms are the breadbasket for much of the nation, doubtful to me that Sacramento has any desire to change that.
Of course, lets not forget that at the national level we have an electoral system which by far rewards the rural voter over majority rule.
...which fuels crony capitalism, closer to Marxism than actual Capitalism. Citizens should be able to lobby the interest of their government, it is only when the foxes (Congress) guard the henhouse that corruption takes hold. The founders did not fear big business, they feared government. Today played out by the faustian bargain between government and large corporations. The very definition of Marxism, and Communism ultimately.So again, the so-called 'tyranny' of the majority somehow is favored over the tyranny of the minority. Of course, the Founders never heard of Pacs where a few ultra-wealthy businessmen with agendas could funnel great sums of money for political expediency.
Just good natured civic discussion @1maGohPolitics again? Ugh.
The victim argument falls on deaf ears. We are only uneven handed to those who are looking to be victims of prejudice. Here's a hint. The way to get back to the OP is to get back to the OP - NOT to make a political statement or refer to a member as "ilk" and then without taking a breath, plead to get back to the OP. It's pretty hollow.Yeah, and as usual, i'm the only one.
Twice I tried to get back to the OP and twice this material was put back in my face.
This is where I was called a "conspiracy nut" for seeing a liberty issue with this whole Brave New World. A convenience becomes a mandate. This whole idea may not be as inevitable, or desirable as many think.
Are you familiar with the rural life? Traveling farm acreage and into town are not that daunting. Oh will they be granted waivers by the anointed? How nice of them. Surely this won't kill off the already struggling family farms. You cannot drive entire populations into population centers, as the elite dream of.
Noooo. California government is FRIEND to the farmer. They wouldn't do anything to kill off that breadbasket.
https://reason.com/2016/11/30/californias-new-cow-fart-regulations-tot
...by the way, I just finished a project with the head lobbyist genius responsible for getting this legislation passed. He was so proud, as he told me about it. In the mean-time, the heroes down in the central valley face hundreds of thousands of dollars in mandates from the state to "get into compliance" with methane -capturing technologies. It's criminal in my opinion.
Do we want large population centers dictating our elections? That was the genius of the Founders so that all parts of the country would have a say. Even so, States like California, New York, Florida, Illinois, etc. have a huge say in the process. It is not as though Idaho cancels out the vote of California.
...which fuels crony capitalism, closer to Marxism than actual Capitalism. Citizens should be able to lobby the interest of their government, it is only when the foxes (Congress) guard the henhouse that corruption takes hold. The founders did not fear big business, they feared government. Today played out by the faustian bargain between government and large corporations. The very definition of Marxism, and Communism ultimately.
Where liberty dwells, there is my country.
-Ben Franklin
Just good natured civic discussion @1maGoh![]()
Love ya River. There's room for all us whack jobs in this forum.Yeah, sure it is. If I answered half of this 503 would ban me. Political discussions create a heated atmosphere around here and I have already been warned once on this thread and again on another. Football fans are conservative, I get it, it's OK by me if you want to keep this a one way conversation, have at it. Lets not forget though that the home of the L.A. Rams are located in a fairly liberal city in a pretty liberal state.
And yes, I have lived in a rural atmosphere, spending 27 years between the age of 22 and 50 living in a community of approximately 100 homes surrounded by National Forest.
Do we want large population centers dictating our elections?
They do seem to be the bellwether states. Don’t they?Opposed to just Ohio and Florida?
While I don't doubt your scenario in general, I find a lot of timing, logistical, and financial issues with it.
The only place your scenario plays out is in fairly densely populated cities. Even then, the idea that a large percentage of cars will make single trips to pick up people at a singular location and drop them at another singular location during rush hour is unlikely to either work or collect the confidence of the every day commuter.
The idea that private ownership of vehicles will be rare in 10 years is a pipe dream (or nightmare). I could see many people switching to driverless cars for their transportation needs - many will likely hire a service.
Now rural areas will present an even more difficult situation. People in rural areas will be even more resistant, the cost for the service would be outrageously expensive while trying to service areas where incomes are lower by in large, people use their vehicles for far more than transportation, and I highly doubt Uber is going to be putting gun and bow racks in their cute little transport vehicles.
As to insurance companies controlling this... this makes no sense to me. Maybe you can explain why they would give up millions of customers that they can pretty much control the rates on and trade that for a few large transportation companies that will control THEM and will pay them pennies on the dollar compared to what they are pulling in now. Insurance companies don't raise rates because they want fewer customers. They raise them in order to achieve a guaranteed return. Hell - these transportation companies would simply bond themselves and do without the insurance companies in your scenario. We're talking Google, Amazon, GM, etc... - not some cab company.
There are almost 300 million registered vehicles in the US. Let's just say best case scenario is that driverless cars start to take a significant market share in 5 years. They won't - but let's just use that timing. Displacing 300 million cars with driverless cars will take not only a way to recycle the cars at ridiculous rates, it will take a huge mind shift of car owners that will fight giving up their cars even in the face of increasing insurance costs (which I also doubt your suggestion that they will price themselves out of business), forced cooperation from the government at all levels, buy backs from the federal government ala that outrageously effective cash for clunker scam, rerouting and redesigning of streets in cities, etc...
So while I believe that driverless cars will likely dominate the landscape some day - especially in the cities, I am going to guess I will be driving until I am so old I scare myself.
Some years back, the Great Recession destroyed it, I had an event production business. One woman that worked for me drove this monstrous gas guzzler of an SUV. I think it was made by Chrysler. It was freaking GIGANTIC and got single digit MPG in the city. Everyone at the office thought it was funny because she was about 5' 2" and 100 pounds. One third of that 100 pounds were her tits by the way. So it was a giant thing driven by a tiny thing.
She was looking into buying a house after working for me for a few years. She was earning good money. She found a killer deal and pulled the trigger on it.
A two story beauty on a small lake with loads of front and back yard (that went up to a hill) and lots of space for even a family of 4, though she just had herself and her dog.
Then gas prices flew through the roof. And I think we all recall that, gas prices kept going up and up in chunks. I remember taking a picture of a fill-up I did that was over 70 bucks!.
Anyway, she regretted buying the house because the cost of gas was eating away at her disposable income. Even going to the grocery store was a pain in the ass because of how remote the house was. People who live "way out there" pay a price.
Right? I remember having the pump at the local gas station shutting off at $100 because it was set that way to prevent a huge gas overflow if the nozzle malfunctioned. I had to use another card to finish filling because the system would think it was a trying to charge my card twice. Ah... Good times .$70? That’s nuthin! We had a 44 gallon tank and gas was just over $5/gal when we left. You KNOW how much that hurt...
People keep bringing up things like smart phones as if that kind of technology is an example. Phones don't kill you if they freak up .
People keep bringing up things like smart phones as if that kind of technology is an example. Phones don't kill you if they freak up .