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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   33194 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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Sure, but what is beautiful? And who gets to decide?

A small example, I love cars. I find joy in driving fun aesthetically pleasing cars, I love seeing them around, I'd love it if more people chose to drive aesthetically pleasing cars rather than generic fish-shaped crossovers. But I'd never want the government to act to make more people drive pretty cars and fewer people drive ugly ones, because their definition of ugly and mine might not agree. I might find my beautiful (in my perception) classic banned, and the roads full of hideous monstrosities. I want freedom of aesthetic, not a requirement of some government's idea of aesthetics.

Inasmuch as that philosophy results in libertarian outcomes (We should all be free to make our lives beautiful) it is great, inasmuch as it results in authoritarian outcomes (The government should restrict people from making choices that I find unaesthetic) it is horrible. Inasmuch as Kulak is saying "Hey if you're gonna kill yourself, jump in a volcano or something" cool beans; inasmuch as he is saying "The government should not offer the option of assisted suicide because that's for pussies" I find it both wrong and incoherent. Wrong because it's not for me to tell someone else how to make their most personal decision, incoherent because if we posit that such a person is useless because they would make this choice then it's in our interest to let them make that choice.

While not directly relevant, there’s a very short story about classic cars and government regulations that I enjoyed called “A Nice Morning

Drive”

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19731100roadandtrack.htm

Love it.

What about the government stopping in pushes that strongly incentivize fish shaped crossovers with fleet fuel efficiency standards and pedestrian safety laws?

Oh I'm full of ideas for how to intervene or stop intervening in the car market. Fleet fuel economy standards are a nightmare. Safety standards are fascism, we should be able to sell cheap tricycles or a modern MGB to consenting adults. I also think additional licensing should be required for any vehicle with more than 200 and again at 300 horsepower, regardless of size.

Speed limits should be eliminated. People convicted of reckless driving offenses should have mandatory mechanical devices installed on their axles that create violent noise and vibration above 65mph.

A modern MGB, you get my vote! My first car was a Sprite.

I want to be your friend.

Safety standards are fascism, we should be able to sell cheap tricycles or a modern MGB to consenting adults.

I also think additional licensing should be required for any vehicle with more than 300 horsepower, regardless of size.

These statements seem to fall on opposite sides of the debate.

Not really. Both are in favor of smaller, lighter cars which burn less gas not by virtue of complicated technical tricks but by being small cars with small engines.

If the general class of driver's license only covers up to 200 horsepower, that will stop a lot of soccer mom's from driving Expeditions they can't park properly. You can drive a full size pickup with 180 horsepower, but slowly, most people won't choose to do it. So the only people driving big cars will be those who need them or really love them, eliminating most users who can't drive them well.

Enthusiasts buying sports cars would happily take an extra month of classes and a harder test, hell throw in a track handling test.

Take out big cars and sports cars, and no one needs more than 200 horsepower anyway, and with smaller engines they'll get better gas mileage. 200hp in an Avalon or an Explorer can handle just fine on the highway, just a little slower.

Oh, you just want smaller cars by any means necessary, even if those means are government-enforced. I thought your "safety standards are fascism" remark was meant to indicate anti-government sentiment.

If we're going to have government regulations, and we are, I just want them to be actually helpful and not actively harmful. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Whoever's aesthetic values converge most serendipitously with the maintenance of superior firepower, one imagines.

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