{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "one paranoid explanation for the constant attacks on personal internal combustion engine vehicles is that they give people too...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/184221469683/", "html": "

isaacsapphire:

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dryiffsrevitalizingtailholetonic:

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one paranoid explanation for the constant attacks on personal internal combustion engine vehicles is that they give people too much freedom. They\u2019re cheap and reliable and can take you 300-400 miles on a tank. You can refill them anywhere.\u00a0

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Mass transit only runs on set paths. The stations can be closed at any time. Users can be monitored fairly easily. Electric cars have shorter ranges, and take a very long time to recharge. Throw in automation/self-driving bullshit and you have a vehicle fleet the state can disable on a whim. Or take over and send you to a predesignated place. Can\u2019t do that with an older gas engine car.\u00a0

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That may or may not be the plan\u2122 but still\u2026

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Doesn\u2019t have to be The Plan to become someone\u2019s plan.

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The rise of the automobile was a big challenge for American law enforcement - the ability to arrive in or leave town very quickly on any path predictable only as far as the next major intersection. You had the \u201cBonnie & Clyde\u201d wave of bank robbers and the moonshiners that inspired NASCAR, but more subtly it made people like con men and check kiters harder to trace.

Then there was the Dukes of Hazzard issue of criminals operating across jurisdictions, and even into the \u201860s when the Hells Angels had counterculture cred they basically operated like highway Vikings, swooping en masse into small rural outposts and overwhelming the local defenders. Hell, the \u201cserial killer\u201d boom of the 70s and the whole \u201cstranger in a van with candy\u201d figure were pretty much about the new specter of auto-empowered crime

In response you saw the rise of police radio and better interagency cooperation, and legal doctrines that enhanced police power w/r/t automobiles

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