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0 pointsRoritharr6y ago0 comments

I find this focus on identity politics so toxic it's starting to make life miserable.

I'm currently driving a VW SUV company car in a german suburb and the amount of hate I receive because of it is ramping up daily. Even from people driving similar polluting cars, like high-powered station wagons.

The other day my wife was breastfeeding our child in our car while I was quickly grabbing something from a store when it was 36°C/96.8°F outside, so I naturally left the car running so the AC would keep them cool. I was barely a minute out of the car when a woman came knocking on the window, gesturing my wife to turn off the car, giving her the finger etc.

I can't imagine similar things happening even 5 years ago.

0 comments

maest6y ago

I wonder if it is fair to discount those people by calling what they're doing "identity politics".

Perhaps there's a move in the Overton window: as environmental issues are brought to the forefront of people's minds, the average person is becoming more hostile to what is perceived as being non-eco behaviour - not because of "identity politics", but because they're more aware of negative externalities coming from such behaviour.

That woman sounds like an outlier based on our experience so far, but perhaps that indicates that the window is moving and what is and isn't acceptable in our society is changing.

I mean, not long ago, slavery was widely accepted in our society and it took some violent societal transitions (at least in some parts of the world), to move to a world where slavery is highly frowned upon.

wutbrodo6y ago

Interesting, I often hear this described as a peculiarly (or at least mostly) American phenomenon, but that's well beyond the type of thing I'd imagine happening in even the hyper-sensitive US city I live in. I know I'm being a little reductive here, but your story is a pretty substantial outlier relative to what I'm used to.

nickik6y ago

I know in Switzerland there was a story about some of the young left party going around putting stickers on SUV saying "I also am a tank" and they got a lot of flack for this 'property destruction'.

belltaco6y ago

I think it's because large SUVs are much rarer in the Europe compared to the US.

wutbrodo6y ago

Hm, that makes some sense, but taking SUVs out of the picture, I can't think of any analogue that would happen here.

belltaco6y ago

Interesting, on the other side of the coin, there has been outright vandalism against eco friendly cars.

15 hybrid cars' tires slashed including a Smart car.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Vandal-Targets-Priu...

Similar story in California. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080908-vandal...

Also in Seattle.

Things are decidedly weird.

blondin6y ago

omg wow, didn't know people would go to such extent...

pjc506y ago

That's not based on identity, that's based on action. Running a stationary car is basically a form of littering.

all26y ago

That's like saying "cooling a stationary house is littering". Operating a device for the comfort of the user is precisely why we make things like AC, whether it's in a car, a boat, or a house.

_ph_6y ago

No, there is a huge difference. In a house, the AC is powered efficiently by electric power from the grid or even your solar cells. With the car, you keep a combustion engine , that could output 100kW or more running purely to power a 1kW AC unit. This is one of many advantages of electric or hybrid cars, that you can keep AC running.

1 more reply

rmrfrmrf6y ago

I'm guessing it's the VW part people are against since they cheat on their emissions tests.

googlryas6y ago

Would the woman been treated the same way if she was in a Skoda or Audi?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsRoritharr6y ago0 comments

I find this focus on identity politics so toxic it's starting to make life miserable.

I can't imagine similar things happening even 5 years ago.

0 comments

maest6y ago

I wonder if it is fair to discount those people by calling what they're doing "identity politics".

That woman sounds like an outlier based on our experience so far, but perhaps that indicates that the window is moving and what is and isn't acceptable in our society is changing.

wutbrodo6y ago

nickik6y ago

I know in Switzerland there was a story about some of the young left party going around putting stickers on SUV saying "I also am a tank" and they got a lot of flack for this 'property destruction'.

belltaco6y ago

I think it's because large SUVs are much rarer in the Europe compared to the US.

wutbrodo6y ago

Hm, that makes some sense, but taking SUVs out of the picture, I can't think of any analogue that would happen here.

belltaco6y ago

Interesting, on the other side of the coin, there has been outright vandalism against eco friendly cars.

15 hybrid cars' tires slashed including a Smart car.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Vandal-Targets-Priu...

Similar story in California. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080908-vandal...

Also in Seattle.

Things are decidedly weird.

blondin6y ago

omg wow, didn't know people would go to such extent...

pjc506y ago

That's not based on identity, that's based on action. Running a stationary car is basically a form of littering.

all26y ago

That's like saying "cooling a stationary house is littering". Operating a device for the comfort of the user is precisely why we make things like AC, whether it's in a car, a boat, or a house.

_ph_6y ago

1 more reply

rmrfrmrf6y ago

I'm guessing it's the VW part people are against since they cheat on their emissions tests.

googlryas6y ago

Would the woman been treated the same way if she was in a Skoda or Audi?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse