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Old November 23rd 08, 05:42 PM posted to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent,rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.bicycles.rides,uk.rec.cycling
ComandanteBanana
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Default I am convinced bicycling is not safe

On Nov 22, 1:18*pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * Peter Clinch writes:

KingOfTheApes wrote:
So Economic Apartheid is not a reality in America. Funny, there's even
a book on the subject...


er, what? *I never said anything like that, so don't jump to such a
conclusion. *I said the /need/ for geted communities is largely one of
perception. *Which is nothing to do with economic apartheid.


You really do need to stop and read what people write, rather than just
ignoring what they write and printing something irrelevant you happen to
want to say as an "answer".


Hello Peter :-)

Your debating adversary shall not heed your advice,
for he is an anti-bicycling (upon public roads and
streets) propagandist, through and through.

I'm sure he does stop and read what people write/say,
but changing the subject is one of his favourite
tactics.

It is futile to discuss his remarks & statements
at the ostensible level. *That just provides him
with opportunities to spew more propaganda. *I
suggest aiming straight for the (metaphorical)
heart or the brain.

Commandant Klink here is simply out to dissuade people
from riding upon public streets & roads and thereby
requiring of drivers the effort of thought. *His
strategy is to frighten bicyclists "out of the ways"
of drivers such as himself. *It is time to deal with
him at a strategic rather than a tactical level.

Any effort to dumb-down operating a motor vehicle
is pernicious. *But that is his ultimate goal.
His posting history proves that.


Tom, I'm saying the WHOLE SYSTEM, down to the lack of space for
cyclists and up to the gated communities, hints at a jungle where only
the strongest survive.

You get it, or playing dumb?

Read this and see my solutions to this jungle...

(Yes, bike facilities are in the program)

COMING OUT OF THE JUNGLE

"Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that
life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the
thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher
synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths
of both." -M.L. King

A PROGRAM FOR A BETTER WORLD

Why not build a new system? That offers PROSPERITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE and
FREEDOM; that discards the defects of both Communism and Capitalism;
and that places the system at the service of the human being, and not
the other way around. Why not HUMANISM?

Naturally, education and healthcare should be the maximum priorities;
they should be free --or low cost, in the case of higher education--
and accessible to all. Likewise, culture and sports should have a high
priority. The needs of women and children should receive special
attention (for example, adopting the affordable daycares; in general,
we would have much to learn from the Scandinavian model, though our
policy should emphasize that of "teaching them how fish," not of
"giving them the fish"). A POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY, that
includes competition and cooperation, would create a healthy
competition, and it would allow to satisfy the material and human
needs of all. (In this way, the cooperatives would have to be
efficient, while the capitalist enterprises would have to be more
humane; we would have much to learn from the Israeli kibbutz [non-
profit cooperatives]; and from the industrial cooperatives of
Mondragon, in the Basque Country [a "workers capitalism"].) We should
seek full employment (for instance, by creating jobs in the
construction of the transportation infrastructure, and a 30 hour
workweek should be enough). Public transportation should be A1. (The
city of Curitiba, in Brazil, offers us a functional model of
transportation; bicycle lanes should be implemented along all major
streets.) Our roads, where the Law of the Jungle rules, should be made
safer, say by enforcing passing on the left only. The homeless, who
have been pushed into our better parks, should be incorporated into
light but necessary duties, say picking up litter in exchange for
shared apartments and a minimum wage --there should be no homeless.
(Again, Curitiba is a model on this.) Junk food should have a warning
label (just like cigarettes), particularly the one destined to
children, and also be taxed to subsidize healthy alternatives. Housing
should be available at popular prices. (Prefabricated multifamily
units can help accomplish this; the movement of "New Urbanism" can
provide them with a sense of community and quality of life, say by
having abundant green areas.) Public corruption should be treated as
"public enemy No.1." TV and radio should be independent of Big
Business and the State. (This is due to two reasons: culturally,
because the ratings make bad programs become "good"... for business;
and, politically, because whoever has power over the media... will be
in power; however, people should be able to watch anything on video
and cable; the BBC offers us and example of an independent media.) The
"Free Press" should be democratized, so that, among other things, the
censorship of the opinions of the public is eradicated. Politicians
should live in the worst of the area they represent, so they know its
problems. And politics should become cheaper to avoid its control by
powerful groups (for example, offering free time on TV to the
candidates; we would have much to learn from the political model of
Switzerland [in particular, its political decentralization and its
opportunity to "vote with your feet" between cantons]). Nevertheless,
we should never follow neither anything nor anyone blindly. And, of
course, everything can be improved. Something to think about: While
the prohibition of drugs has been largely ineffective and costly (in
money, prison overpopulation, crime), regulated legalization --like
that of Holland-- can be a better solution to both addiction and
crime. And living free from fear of crime should be treated as a basic
need of society. The final form of this system would be determined by
the acceptance of the people themselves: Each and everyone of these
proposals should be submitted to referendum. And, the basis of
everything else: We should learn to live, not FROM, but WITH Nature.
This would amount to COMING OUT OF THE JUNGLE…


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