The American Dream of Freedom!

WE ARE THE LAND OF THE FREE!

At least, until you try and get medical insurance. America is one of the most influential and most recognized countries in the world, however this country is still stuck in the Middle Ages in some respects. Imagine not having to take out a mortgage to pay for your college degree. Imagine not having to drive 4 hours every day to get to work. 🤯🤯🤯

I have a bone to pick with the way the majority Americans get around to travel. Imagine this. You are at home making breakfast, when, *surprise surprise*, you don’t have enough eggs to make a delicious sandwich for your breakfast. So, you need to go to the store. What do you do?

For 70% of people living in America, it’s an easy answer. Grab your keys, hop in your car, and drive off to the nearest big box neighborhood Walmart, Publix, or Kroger. What about the rest of us who can’t use a car or who don’t want to? We could walk, ride our bike, or maybe see if there is a bus route that goes to the store (don’t even get me started on bus routes in THE LAND OF THE FREE, I’d be squabbling for ages). If you live in an urban city, it’s as easy as going downstairs from your apartment or house, and walking to the nearest corner store or bodega. Some of the most popular places to live in America are places that are walkable. Take San Francisco, NYC, Boston. Those are incredibly nice places to live! I was recently in Boston, and when I needed breakfast, I walked downstairs from my hotel, and just right next door, there was a corner store where I could buy it.

For many young people, it’s their dream of finally “GAINING INDEPENDENCE” by buying a car. Independence? Really? Stack on the monthly car payments, interest, insurance, and skyrocketing gas prices. Is that independence to you? Being stuck in traffic for hours upon end? That’s freedom right there. Jokes aside, you know what really is freedom in terms of transportation? Taking an nice walk to the nearest train stop, waiting 3 minutes or less for the next train, and then taking a ride to wherever you need to go, without having to worry about paying for parking.

Children outside of the US have their independence usually by the time they are ten, by walking to school BY THEMSELVES. Sure, we could let kids walk to school by themselves in the US, but the majority of the time they are driven by their parents or take the school bus.

An analysis of the 2017 data conducted by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center in collaboration with the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning, found that 10.7% of students 5-17 years old usually participated in active travel to school (9.6% walked; 1.1% biked). That’s wild, that means the rest of the time, they are driven by their parents, or, unlikely, take the bus.

“Only 6% of children in Netherlands never walk or cycle to school.” https://bicyclensw.org.au/travel-to-school-a-dutch-experience/

Imagine being a parent and not having to get out of bed, hustle into the car, drive your kid to school, and then wait in line with OTHER parents who are dropping their kid off at school just to drop your kid off at school. Doesn’t that sound like freedom to you?

We have a mentality here in the LAND OF THE FREE that taking the bus is for poor people and suckers. Where I live in the City of Homestead, our city council voted to make a new bus line that goes through the suburbs and into the city. The bus comes about usually every TWO HOURS. What a joke! What’s even more of a joke is that I’ve never seen more than 5 people on that bus at a single moment.

I guarantee you that the suburban don’t want their next door neighbor to think they’re poor for taking the bus. What’s more is that the council members who voted for the bus, they’ve NEVER ridden on it!

ENJOY YOUR CRIPPLING SUBURBAN HOUSE PAYMENTS.