Mastodawn

洪民憙 (Hong Minhee)

I don't own a car. I take public transit everywhere, and I do think personal vehicle use has real environmental costs. But I don't think driving is inherently unethical.

I live in Seoul, and the city makes transit easy for me. That's not a virtue. It's a condition I happen to benefit from. Some people live where transit barely exists, or where it doesn't get them to work, school, or care. In those places, driving is not optional.

The same is true of flying. In parts of Europe you can cross borders by train. In island nations, or in places with weak land connections, flying may be the only realistic option. “Just fly less” means very different things in those places.

A lot of what gets called my ethical choices comes from the conditions I live in. That makes me wary of turning structural failures into personal morality. If the alternative is missing or unusable, shaming people for not choosing it solves nothing.

When environmental harm gets framed as individual moral failure, attention shifts away from the structural changes that would actually matter. It's not an accident that oil companies spent decades popularizing the idea of the personal carbon footprint.

@hongminhee While I do agree with you in principle, I also think that certain personal choices can have a long tail of consequences that can be avoided. I find it good and necessary to make driving in places with good public transit very inconvenient. I do find it necessary to make local populations fight for more transit in more places. So it's not as simple as "countryside = driving". Why not increase living density wherever possible, so that transit and other sustainable options are possible?

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 16h ago

@helenan @hongminhee

"Why not increase living density wherever possible"

right but that's not a personal choice

the only real personal choice that matters on questions like this is voting

if we don't vote, with these issues in mind, then we're culpable for our society failing us

otherwise, our personal choices still matter on questions like this as you say, but in smaller ways. larger structural issues are the dominant factor, influenced individually and personally, by our vote

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee
First job is to prevent the MAGA/bad guys from stopping or stealing the vote.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

@TJC_2 @helenan @hongminhee

That's an overblown fear

The states control the vote

Red states may fuck with the vote but they're already red

The primary concern with this overblown "stealing the vote" fear is premature capitulation:

"If they're going to steal the vote, why vote?"

That effect is a bigger effect than any stealing #MAGA can do

Many Americans are cowardly and spineless that way

We just need to fucking #vote

Nonvoters are just culpable as MAGA, they're lazy entitled assholes

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee
Understand that I am a voter and encourage all to vote. Important to vote. Also, they are trying their damnedest to squash and steal the votes and the election. We have to exert local vigilance and control over the voting process and protect the polls from the armed minions they want to send in. Corrupt officials are already stealing past votes, setting up an excuse for all the evil vote snatching they hope to do. And yes, it's critical to show up and vote.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

@TJC_2 @helenan @hongminhee

excellence

thank you

*and* make sure to speak out against this mindless acceptance of fascism "they want to steal the vote so i won't vote" premature capitulation spineless weakness

that's just as important in my view

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Thanks for speaking out and acting in the public interest.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

@TJC_2 @helenan @hongminhee ✌️

Mark Ohe 14h ago

Word to the wise, because in fact you do seem wise, and you certainly make a lot of good points, most of which I agree with:
You will come across as more sympathetic, more people will heed you advice and your apparent goals will be achieved if you cut out the unnecessary cursing and the often berating tone.

I’m probably not the first to mention this. Ideally I would be the last.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

upon deep reflection of your comment, i have arrived at a thoughtful response:

fuck you, gatekeeping asshole

i'm not trying to be funny. don't patronize me and tell me how to behave

in fact, i view "polite society" as complicit in our troubles

these are people who will look past a vile lie said serenely, and then suddenly get upset at people who say "fuck" in response to the silver tongued lie

i despise people like this, people like you

i really mean that

go fuck yourself

🖕

Barry Schwartz 🫖14h ago

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee

I cannot stand when people have it in mind to tell others what to do, such as that they must move to the city and ride in a mass transit. I mean, who do they think they are, to tell people what to do?

You are right, just fricking VOTE!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

@chemoelectric @helenan @hongminhee

the USA is terrible, it's so car-centric. even to the point of historically how auto manufacturers bought trolley lines for example just to shut them down forcing people into cars

but yes indivuals can't fix this. we as a society have to fucking show up and #vote on transportation policy. then the improvement

therefore, if we don't vote, *that* is the failure of personal responsibility, not if we move to a city or not to rid ourselves of cars

Barry Schwartz 🫖14h ago

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee

Brooklyn and parts of L.A. were big trolley towns. So in a perverse way it was appropriate when the ‘Trolley Dodgers’ moved to L.A. Though really they belonged in Philadelphia.

I’m in the Twin Cities where we built a light rail system. Though it doesn’t go by the baseball field. It does go near where there was a baseball field a hundred years ago.

Barry Schwartz 🫖14h ago

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee

I should say ‘either baseball field’, because we have both the Twins field and their AAA field.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 14h ago

@chemoelectric @helenan @hongminhee

minneapolis is a great fucking town. suffering greatly under trump. i don't think it's dampened your spirits, probably strengthened them

Barry Schwartz 🫖14h ago

@benroyce I see businesses seeming to have put up rather solid steel fences and gates and think it must be to keep ICE out.

The Psychotic Network Ferret 15h ago

@helenan @hongminhee Living in a densely populated area is my own personal brand of hell. I did the apartment thing when I was younger, I was miserable. I moved out to the country when I bought my first house.

Yes, I have to drive everywhere I need to go, but mass transit in the USA is a joke even in urban areas. I'd like to think I am fairly responsible about it. I drive a 14 year old hybrid that still doesn't have 100,000 miles on it and is in excellent condition.