The Traffic Hierarchy

Written on September 29th, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No 1308, by Planka.nu, Sept 27, 2016: one is not born a motorist, one becomes one.

Mobility and class are deeply entangled. Not only because one’s potential for mobility often has to do with one’s economic position, but also because a society built on today’s mobility paradigm – automobility – directly contributes to growing economic and social differences.  

A society which puts the car on a pedestal quite obviously favours motorists. Another obvious fact is that white high-income and middle-aged men are an over-represented group among motorists. And the opposite is true among public transport users. But, a society that prioritises motoring, and looks at ever-growing mobility as an almost magical recipe for development, increases the differences between its citizens and different parts in other ways as well.

The current traffic hierarchy, with the car on top and with public transport, bikers and pedestrians at the bottom, manifests itself in the fact that these means of conveyance are given different amounts of space and resources. With the car on top of the traffic hierarchy we get a society built on automobility: a world where our lives, to a far too great extent, are steered by cars.

Consequences of Automobility:

This article is written to clarify how the current traffic hierarchy manifests itself and what its consequences are: a society built on automobility does not only pose grave danger from an ecological point-of-view, it also enhances the current notions toward greater economic and social segregation. By highlighting the problems with the current traffic hierarchy and starting to map out the edges of another way of planning and handling movement we hope and believe that we can also give some clues on how to handle other societal problems … //

… (full text, video 53.49 min, related reading).

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(Planka.nu is a network of Swedish groups that work for free public transport. Apart from engaging in public debate, direct action, and guerrilla media, the network administers the P-kassan, a solidarity fund covering fines for people commonly known as fare-dodgers, although they are more aptly described as passengers in public transport engaged in an anti-fare strike. In 2008 Planka.nu started the international site Fare Free Public Transport, a meeting point for activists working for a free public transport).

Other Links:

Standing In Solidarity For A Humanity Without Borders, on Countercurrents (first on Share the World Resources), by Adam Parsons, Sept 28, 2016;

Why the cease-fire in Syria has failed, on Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan, Sept 26, 2016;

Pourquoi le cessez-le-feu a échoué en Syrie, dans Voltairenet.org, par Thierry Meyssan, le 26 sept 2016;

Farmworkers Taste the Fruits of Victory, on Labor Notes, by Sonia Singh, Sept 23, 2016: after three years of tireless organizing, 500 farmworkers at Sakuma Brothers Farms in Washington state have finally won union recognition;

Can alternative finance fund a more resilient local economics? on New Start, by Mark Davis, Sept 22, 2016;

European physicists cast doubt on the official version of 9/11, on Voltairenet.org, Sept 20, 2016;

Frauenbilder heute:

So kaputt ist Deutschland dank den USA – Es sieht übel aus, 14.59 min, von Rückeroberung Deutschlands am 3. März 2016;

… and this:

Oöphoi:

  • Static Soundscapes, Three Lights At The End Of The World, on Discogs;
  • on en.wikipedia: Gianluigi Gasparetti (26 March 1958 – 12 April 2013), known by the pseudonym Oöphoi, was an Italian ambient musician. He is perhaps best known for his role as the editor of “Deep Listenings”, an Italian magazine dedicated to ambient and deep atmospheric music,[1] where he has featured interviews with many famous ambient artists including Steve Roach[2] and Michael Stearns.[3] Oöphoi’s music can be characterized as being static, organic and minimalistic. It has an overall solid and monolithic feel to it, often integrated in a meditative and spiritual context. Created by using synths, singing bowls, flutes, and processed voices, his recordings have relatively slight harmonic variations. Gianluigi Gasparetti died in 2013 after a long illness[4] …;
  • on YouTube-search.

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