I've sure enjoyed the "What could you do without?" thread... and it has me thinking of what I would _change_... say, if somebody made me King (Dictator, God?) for a few days...
I think I'd make the national speed limit 40 mph. All cars would have governors on the engines that would keep them from going faster than that. Anyone caught tampering with the governor so they could go faster would immediately lose their license. This would be a permanent and irrevocable law, in the interest of making our nation a more civilized place.
Why?
Well, it would put a halt to urban sprawl at a stroke. Pedestrian-friendly small towns would blossom. The rotten cores of our major cities would once again become great places to live, work, and shop (I live outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and it's a crying shame what that once great city has become...)
Train travel would return, and would be reliable and affordable.
Cars could be built like in the olden days... no need for all those expensive and impossible-to-fix-by-yourself gizmos to keep you alive during a horrendous crash at excessively high speeds... except that with what we know now, cars would be safer AND probably get 100 MPG. And STYLE could return to the automobile! No need for crush zones and plastic parts.
With less gas being wasted, gas prices would plummet due to the oversupply...
Road rage would disappear.
People would make fewer frivolous trips in their cars, and would stay at home more, getting to know their own families. People might even start to enjoy their neighbors again. Maybe at-home entertainment like games, reading, and "just visiting" would become popular again, I'd love to see some of the old literary journals return (ever read a Collier's, Harper's, or Saturday Evening Post magazine from the 1930s? AMAZING stuff!)
Locally grown produce would once again be an option for most people, since trucking it long distances would be impractical. And much of the need for "slave" labor in the gardens of California to provide super cheap baby carrots and other veggies to the cities of the East would evaporate like dew in the morning Sun.
Once everyone got used to the somewhat slower pace, I think that we'd all breathe a sigh of relief that we'd come, as a nation, to our collective senses...
After that change, I'd work to keep all the shops closed on Sunday... ;-)
Well, it's a thought, anyway...
So, what would YOU change?
Jupiter
I think I'd make the national speed limit 40 mph. All cars would have governors on the engines that would keep them from going faster than that. Anyone caught tampering with the governor so they could go faster would immediately lose their license. This would be a permanent and irrevocable law, in the interest of making our nation a more civilized place.
Why?
Well, it would put a halt to urban sprawl at a stroke. Pedestrian-friendly small towns would blossom. The rotten cores of our major cities would once again become great places to live, work, and shop (I live outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and it's a crying shame what that once great city has become...)
Train travel would return, and would be reliable and affordable.
Cars could be built like in the olden days... no need for all those expensive and impossible-to-fix-by-yourself gizmos to keep you alive during a horrendous crash at excessively high speeds... except that with what we know now, cars would be safer AND probably get 100 MPG. And STYLE could return to the automobile! No need for crush zones and plastic parts.
With less gas being wasted, gas prices would plummet due to the oversupply...
Road rage would disappear.
People would make fewer frivolous trips in their cars, and would stay at home more, getting to know their own families. People might even start to enjoy their neighbors again. Maybe at-home entertainment like games, reading, and "just visiting" would become popular again, I'd love to see some of the old literary journals return (ever read a Collier's, Harper's, or Saturday Evening Post magazine from the 1930s? AMAZING stuff!)
Locally grown produce would once again be an option for most people, since trucking it long distances would be impractical. And much of the need for "slave" labor in the gardens of California to provide super cheap baby carrots and other veggies to the cities of the East would evaporate like dew in the morning Sun.
Once everyone got used to the somewhat slower pace, I think that we'd all breathe a sigh of relief that we'd come, as a nation, to our collective senses...
After that change, I'd work to keep all the shops closed on Sunday... ;-)
Well, it's a thought, anyway...
So, what would YOU change?
Jupiter
