Transportation is much on the minds of the Davos dystopians. Their yearning to replace private automobiles with mass transit is well known. A talk at this year’s World Economic Forum (a/k/a “Rent Girls’ Paradise”) offers a new twist and leads me to think that monorails may soon be yesteryear’s fad.
The era of cars as the ultimate tool for personal freedom and mobility will, if the future the World Economic Forum (WEF) envisions comes to pass, soon be over. Cars will be something you ask to borrow and the cloud will be taking the wheel.
Speaking in Davos, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said, “the car is becoming a connected computer on wheels.” Like cell phones, he said, “everything around us is becoming connected intelligence.” . . .
Tech visionaries say that computerized cars will be integrated into the cloud, where they can be monitored and controlled by a centralized network that can prevent collisions, alert you about road conditions and manage traffic.
While much of this technology already exists via cell phones, and some cars already track your gaze to alert you when your eyes stray from the road, the next step is linking the car’s systems together with manufacturers and other vehicles, and allowing for continuous third party tracking. . . .
An October McKinsey study identified four trends in automotive tech, which they call ACES: autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility. Regarding connectivity, the report states: “Intelligent communication within and outside of the car is a key enabler for autonomous technologies.”
“Shared mobility”, i. e., borrowing rather than owning your car, is, a WEF report suggests, a prerequisite to eliminating the internal combustion engine.
However, among the realities that undermine the “green” EV narrative is that the minerals required to make batteries are mined under highly pollutive and environmentally devastating conditions, then refined and manufactured primarily in China, often using coal power. In addition to the environmental impact of producing EVs, some industry experts also question whether enough minerals can be mined and processed to meet the expected demand.
The solution is to reduce the number of automobiles drastically by ending individual private ownership: “the WEF report states that the average car in the U.K. is driven only 4 percent of a given day, and therefore consumers should not buy cars but rather borrow them.”
Thus we have a vision of a future in which everyone’s use of automobiles is tracked and recorded. How long before the Davoisie decide that buses and subways and light rail make it too easy for their inferiors to go to the wrong places? Well, after the buses stop running, one can still walk – at least until there is a camera at every street corner. Or, more subtly, the elites may decide that “fat acceptance” is the right policy for hoi polloi. There’s no need to discourage twenty stone deplorables from going walkabout.
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