Suburbia
America boasts an attitude of dominance over most countries in this world. Our wealth as a country provides us, its inhabitants, an arrogance to believe that we are the model society for the entire world. Our innovations are regarded as providing the key to the highest quality of life in which other countries can only aspire. These innovations however, are also a basis for the break down of culture today. The automobile is no longer simply a method of transportation but rather a product and tool of consumerism and suburbanization. The automobile has created the death of many cities in exchange for the birth of automobile-dependant suburbs. These suburbs play a pivotal role in changing the landscape of yesterday's cities into webs of roads. "But even those who love driving must acknowledge that there is an inherent inequity in sprawl, an environment of outsize physical dimensions determined by automotive motion." (Duanys 14) The writings of Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickel and Dimed, Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and the Duanys in Suburban Nation all explore social issues prevalent today and as a result, the influence of the automobile is significantly addressed. The writings present evidence which unravels the broad bot
I hate the drive, along a roadside studded with white crosses commemorating the more effective head-on collisions. The cost of automobiles tends to be deep in terms of cost and visibility. "Dependent always on some adult to drive them around, children and adolescents are unable to practice at becoming adults. " (Duanys 107) To be independent in society is connected with possessing an automobile. " (Ehrenreich 5) Many people do not have cars however, and this can create problems of great magnitude. They cannot run so simple a household errand as picking up a carton of milk. A simple two mile distance demands a car drive which doesn't seem worth the hassle many times. (Schlosser 16) "That gripe is easy to refute on a macroscopic level; few people would claim that, on the regional scale, it is cheaper to produce a sprawling, automobile-dependent environment than one that is compact and pedestrian - and transit-friendly. " (Ehrenreich 14) Clearly, the automobile is linked with many undesirable consequences. " (Duanys 113) Dependency on the automobile seems to correlate to the crumbling health of Americans. It is not like in the city, where the local coffee shop may be right underneath your residence. However, do the benefits outweigh the consequences? However, It may be too late when this is all figured out.
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