I personally know several people who could afford a car and chose not to.
Either way, lots of social issues can be called "jealousy" if you're callous. Workers demanding higher wages don't have to be free of jealousy to be in the right.
this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Unpopular Opinion
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I am one of those people. Add me to the list.
There's a list I heard?
I personally know several people who could afford a car and chose not to.
I never claimed those people don't exist. I even mentioned them in my post:
It’s only virtuous when you could easily have one but choose not to.
I also know fewer people who complain about cars while not being able to afford them. Once you're out of college/university age, it's pretty rare to not be able to afford a car at all - it might be a bit difficult, but certainly possible. Anyway, if you care about the right thing being done (i.e. fewer people using cars, better public transport, better bicycle lanes), why does it even matter if people advocate for it for the wrong reasons?
lol. cars suck and I hate them. that being said my wife loves em and I have not been able to live car free since college. For her they are the ultimate freedom but for me they are a ball and chain weighing us down. They are the source of our biggest economic challenges outside of unemployment. Can't really get rid of it at this point as she has health issues and is handicapped. She could not really handle transit before and sure as can't now. That being said the only time im in car is when she is driving unless im driving her back from the hospital. I walk, ride my bike, and take the train/bus.
I own a car, ive lived rurally and needed it. I still hate the massive over built direction trucks and SUVs have gone and i absolutely hate over built car infrastructure and that transit barely exists. I hate the massive impacts these factors have on our planet and our cities. I hate that pedestrian injuries and deaths are increasing.
Wake Up, babe. The new projection just dropped.
What are you hoping to achieve with this?
Baiting.
What do you Hope to achieve with proclaiming environmentally responsible decisions we're driven by envy and not adulthood?
Not what I claimed.
Intentional misrepresentation of others is nothing but a confession about your own character.
IDK. I have 2 vehicles and wish there was public transit where I lived so I wouldn't need to drive. So much time wasted driving. I could do work or read or whatever on a bus or train.
That isn't in conflict with what I said. I'm not claiming that everyone wants a car.
I have two BMWs, bought new, and while þey're not Bugattis, þey weren't budget cars. So, like you, I can clearly afford cars, and I agree wiþ you. If we had decent public transportation in þe US, I'd use it. Commuting takes longer, but you can do oþer stuff like read, on a train.
I'd still want a car. Even when I lived in Munich back when you could set your watch by þe trains, if you didn't have a car it was much harder to do some þings and to visit some places. But, day to day commuting? Public transport FTW, when it's ubiquitous and reliable.
Upvoting OP because I agree it's an unpopular opinion, and misguided. I believe many car owners are also fans of public transport, and critical of car culture.
Well, I disagree.
In my experience it is quite the opposite:
The people who complain about all the private cars are mostly not the ones that can't afford a car, but the ones that can afford not to have a car.
Typically those are people with higher income living in urban areas.
Yeah that's a fair point. Having the option to not have a car is a privilege in itself.
However, there are also those who can afford to live in a city and get by without a car but would get one if they could afford it but because they can't, they resent the people who do. Those are the ones I'm referring to here. My criticism only applies to the actual hypocrites.
Never met any of those people.
Most of the people who can't afford a car here have enough other stuff to worry about and also typically just want to own a car themselves one day.
This goes so far that many of the people who realistically can't afford a car financially, own one nonetheless.
This is Germany, though. Many Germans have a "special" connection to cars, bordering on unhealthy...
Yeah, you got me. I have a decent car that I like but I also like that I can walk a few places. I really miss when I lived downtown, and had the freedom to walk/subway anywhere without having to deal with traffic or parking. Unfortunately jobs in my field are in suburban office parks, and you can’t get there.
My current employers office is only 3.5 miles away. Too far to walk every day, even if there were sidewalks. Too hilly for bicycling with my bad knees. I’d consider an electric bicycle but can’t imagine surviving some of the roads to get there
What exactly are you criticising? Cars, or jealous people?
Because I think everyone wants transport / freedom to move wherever they want no, so isn't cost just a valid argument against car dependency? Because they are expensive
Just your standard issue Republican shit take.
"You don't like being exploited by the oligarchy? It's just because you're jealous, you filthy pauper!"
I can certainly understand any American as hating cars because you cannot get around here well without one. The roads and layouts were not made with pedestrians in mind. Sidewalks and bike lanes just start and stop randomly, forcing pedestrians onto two lane roads. And the public transportation in most cities hasn't changed a bit since the 1970s, so idk I def get it here. There are no other options unless you wanna get a ride or risk your life
Yeaaaaa but isn't that a perfectly valid criticism of private transport? If not everyone can afford or access it, it is a mechanism of inequality.
If not everyone can afford or access it, it is a mechanism of inequality.
This logic classifies nearly every product of human effort as inherently unjust. It basically demands a world of perfect abundance where every desire is instantly available to either everyone - or no one - while completely ignoring the reality of time and limited resources.
Scarcity isn't oppression.
This logic classifies nearly every product of human effort as inherently unjust. It basically demands a world of perfect abundance where every desire is instantly available to either everyone - or no one - while completely ignoring the reality of time and limited resources.
Right, or in other words "physical reality is full of natural and insurmountable inequalities." But cars are a human invention, which makes them a mechanism of inequality - that's to say, something where went out of our way to "do work" to de-flatten the playing field. The cars are introducing a new inequality to human society.
And cars are also less efficient (in terms of space and material and fuel usage) than other modes of transport - trains, buses, bikes and walking. So of course, to someone who cannot afford cars, they will wonder if car dependent infrastructure was created and is maintained primarily to seperate those who can pay and those sho must stay (stay put). The expectation that everyone will have a car might mean that the transportless fellow has no access to pubic transport, because his local government decided they shouldn't fund any. This is bad for the safety of children and the disabled, as well as the poor's access to work.
No offense, but it's telling that you didn't post this in any of the anti-car communities...
Obviously, this heavily depends on where you live (I'm assuming the UK based on your username). In the US, for instance, it's almost necessary to have a vehicle in most places. Our public transit is seriously terrible and underfunded, and passenger trains are almost non-existent.
it’s telling that you didn’t post this in any of the anti-car communities…
This isn't anti-car post and thus doesn't belong in those communities.