We all believe that the future is light-blue and beautiful.Imagine a political party that is supported by wealthy entrepreneurs and the poorest segment of the society at the same time. Isn't that every politics wet dream? Well, this is the situation in Estonia before next national elections in March. The neo-liberal Reform Party and its leader Mr. Andrus Ansip is supported by the wealthiest and the poorest people in country and is by far the most supported politician in scene. Everybody can understand why businessman is supporting liberals but neo-liberal working class? Not really. Supposedly every Estonian still lives the dream of better future. Those poor working class folks don’t see them selves what they are now but rather what they want to be in future. Wealthy and successful. The light blue vision of the better future…
From time to time I deal with sustainable transport issues: promoting bicycle use and walking instead of using private car for every trip possible. And for some reason sometimes I got this look. Like I have lost my mind. "What's the point having a car when you don’t use it? I have invested lot of money into that vehicle. Certainly I will use it every second of my life!" And I don’t argue with that look as I know that for those people the car is not just a car. It's much more. It's a lifestyle. It's freedom. It's their own tiny planet. But the most important is that owning a car as a symbol of their social status. Again I don’t argue with that. Still it keeps me wondering, especially in cases where there are space conflicts between different mobility groups. Approximately one third of the population is owning a car but when it comes to the city space then car traffic is prioritized almost every time.
It's not conspiracy of car owners. In fact even when a person doesn't own a car many citizens identify them self as a car owner in the future and are willing to sacrifice their wellbeing today for the light blue vision of the better future...
