Americans don't understand what they gave up for their cars 

...and paved over much of the best farmland. Around here -- southern Vermont, and New England generally -- so much former river bottom, the best soil and drainage, is paved over for parking lots, gas stations, malls, stores, etc. The insanity of massive rush hour traffic every day, stop and go, then stop... highways packed with cars, almost all with only one person in them, wasting fuel, polluting... it's crazy on the face of it. Well said, sir. You seem, if anything, to be understating the case.

The problem is not our cars, its our politicians.

But surely the vehicle gave a new measure of safety comfort and range and independance i mean walking everywhere or by horse back becomes tiresome and the vehicle connected isolated communities and lead to more unity