Automakers Prepare for an America That’s Over the Whole Car Thing
Decades ago when I was in Indiana, which liked and still likes cars, I knew some people from NYC, and they hated cars, any and all cars.  Ever since then, NYC has had a lot hatred for cars.  NYC just doesn&#x27;t like cars.  And, no surprise, now the NYT from NYC doesn&#x27;t like cars.<p>I&#x27;ve lived in Tennessee, Indiana, Maryland, and upstate NYS, and all those places like cars, and those places have liked cars for all the decades NYC hated cars.<p>So, the OP is from the NYT in NYC and is about hating cars.  So, from the decades of history, I&#x27;m not surprised or impressed.<p>E.g., I have a car in my garage.  I own it 100%.  It costs me $500 or so a year in auto insurance.  Since I drive it about   5000 miles a year, there is nearly no cost for maintenance and the insurance costs me, what, about 10 cents a mile.  The gasoline costs me about 17 cents a mile.  So, all things considered, we&#x27;re looking at ballpark 30 cents a mile.<p>And the NYT wants me to replace my car with what?  No thanks.<p>Yes, it&#x27;s easy for NYC and its NYT to believe that they have the right answers for everything for everyone on the two coasts and everywhere between.  Alas, mostly NYC and the NYT are in an echo chamber and at odds with nearly everyone else in the US except for parts of a few of the largest cities and some of the West Coast.<p>Long ago I concluded that quite broadly NYC and the NYT are out of step with nearly all the rest of the US.  So, the NYT doesn&#x27;t like cars -- I didn&#x27;t expect anything else and am not influenced at all.<p>Of course, there is the old screaming that humans are evil, sinners, that humans are doing terrible transgressions against kittens, puppies, flowers, the grass, the air, the water, the land, the oceans, the great natural order, etc. and that these  transgressions are leading quickly to terrible retributions.  Then, the claim goes that if we act quickly, we can achieve redemption.  Of course, the redemption will require sacrifice.  It&#x27;s a trilogy -- transgression, retribution, redemption.  And we can add on sacrifice.  I&#x27;m not nearly the first person to think of such things!  So, we hear from the NYT that cars show that humans are evil, sinful transgressors ....  Gee, not nearly new.<p>I&#x27;m having a tough time finding what the NYT is good for.  Apparently so are many others since, IIRC, now the NYT is planning to shrink its staff, vacate several floors of its main building, and lease the space to others.  The NYT used to have some utility:  It was printed on paper which was good for starting fires, wrapping dead fish heads, and in the outhouse out back.<p>Whatever side one was on in the election, everyone can see that the NYT was strongly on the side that lost.  Since I put new batteries in my loser detector,  it has been making loud noises in response to any mention of the NYT!<p>To me, the NYT fills a much needed gap in journalism and would be illuminating if ignited and still printed on paper.  I continue to pay attention to the NYT occasionally, first, to remind myself of how much I miss good journalism and, second, to have details to argue that the NYT should just go out of business.