Automobility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Automobility - Essay Example She also thinks that automobiles enhance knowledge. She says that automobiles take us to any place from watching birds to visiting battlegrounds. She also says that automobiles enhance privacy and allow us control over our immediate environment. The reason why so many people are buying cars is because there are benefits in having a car, something that cannot be said about other means of transport. There are public transportations too such as buses and taxis. However, although these too have benefits, they do not provide privacy. Having a private car greatly increases one's mobility. The environmentalists may raise a hue and cry about the ill-effects of the car. But there is little they can do to provide alternatives (Loren Lomasky). Mathew Paterson argues that to explain the rise and subsequent dominance of automobility as a mode of transportation in contemporary societies it is necessary to examine: a) the political economy of automobility; and b) the cultural politics of automobility. How does Paterson's analysis differ from Lomasky's Matthew Paterson has used environment and the capitalist structure to highlight the reason for the rise and dominance of automobility. ... In due time the number of cars increased. Today, the population of cars is high enough to warrant their restriction by environmentalists. A richer class of people will by all means buy a car. Paterson emphasizes the centrality of the car to capitalism. Capitalism had major influence in projecting the value of the car. The capitalist ideology provided the boost to the car industry to evolve through a combination of factors that cover industrialization, taxation, employment and road construction (b) Cultural politics Transportation is not the only need for a car. The basic purpose in owning a car is indeed transportation. However, there is the aura of a culture that has evolved with the automobile. Paterson projects the social, cultural and ability to commute fast in a car that has shaped the need for a car. Unlike Loren Lomasky, he has not concentrated on the benefits of the car. He has instead focused on the underlying reasons for the evolution of the car as a necessity rather than a luxury that has made it so ubiquitous today. Paterson says that our dependence on cars must be understood from the culture that we have allowed to take root in our midst. In order to address environmental issues it is necessary to address this culture and correct the anomalies that have allowed the car to play a dominant role in our affairs (Automobile politics). Several of the authors we have read have argued that is not useful to think about "automobile" and "driver" as separate entities. Rather, they argue that we need to think about them as constituting an "assemblage," which has also been termed a "car-driver," a "driver-car," a "Carson" and several