The line “Freedom is the roar of one man’s engine” really stood out to me when I heard it. It speaks to a solipsistic conception of freedom—the roar of an engine is not freedom for those who have to listen to it outside the vehicle. This vision of “true” freedom as only “freedom to” but never “freedom from” is endemic in American culture, and is strikingly encapsulated by Jeep choosing to highlight one of the externalities of their cars as a selling point.
Couldn't agree more. We rarely consider the externalities of these decisions, and when we do (e.g., in the case of congestion pricing), all hell breaks loose. Reminds me of the Chevron post I wrote a while back, where I argued that the Supreme Court prioritized the freedom of industry to pollute over the freedom of citizens to be free from pollution (and which you so generously offered to review before publication): https://planetdays.substack.com/p/the-freedom-to-pollute
The line “Freedom is the roar of one man’s engine” really stood out to me when I heard it. It speaks to a solipsistic conception of freedom—the roar of an engine is not freedom for those who have to listen to it outside the vehicle. This vision of “true” freedom as only “freedom to” but never “freedom from” is endemic in American culture, and is strikingly encapsulated by Jeep choosing to highlight one of the externalities of their cars as a selling point.
Couldn't agree more. We rarely consider the externalities of these decisions, and when we do (e.g., in the case of congestion pricing), all hell breaks loose. Reminds me of the Chevron post I wrote a while back, where I argued that the Supreme Court prioritized the freedom of industry to pollute over the freedom of citizens to be free from pollution (and which you so generously offered to review before publication): https://planetdays.substack.com/p/the-freedom-to-pollute