Some areas are built around automobiles. I'd rather not be financially burdened with buying/maintaining vehicles for myself, for my wife, and for my son. Unfortunately, most areas of the USA that are affordable are also built around the expectation that people have automobiles. While mass transit exists, it also isn't reliable in many of those selfsame areas. There's no sense of entitlement involved, this is more "what it takes to make it" in some areas.
Driving 1000s of kilometers for a holiday also isn't necessarily the thing. When my brother was having some emotional issues that became an emergency it was a good thing to be able to drop everything, get in my car, and drive out to see him. When my sister was in the ER about 1200 kilometers away, same thing. People argue for flight in those cases, but that would have taken longer and been more expensive.
As for kids, while things may be difficult in the future, I have faith that humankind will face and overcome the challenges thrown at the species. Humans have done so in the past, and I trust that they will do so in the future. Further, humans are not responsible for situations/actions that they had no hand in, had no say in, and have no control over. If people really want to start pointing blame for the way things are, they will inevitably be pointing fingers at some dead person or dead group of people. We can deal with things now, but unless someone can get the US congress to stop giving oil companies corporate welfare (voting hasn't helped despite Americans voting for candidates who had this as a campaign promise), I do not see anything changing.
Some areas are built around automobiles. I'd rather not be financially burdened with buying/maintaining vehicles for myself, for my wife, and for my son. Unfortunately, most areas of the USA that are affordable are also built around the expectation that people have automobiles. While mass transit exists, it also isn't reliable in many of those selfsame areas. There's no sense of entitlement involved, this is more "what it takes to make it" in some areas.
Driving 1000s of kilometers for a holiday also isn't necessarily the thing. When my brother was having some emotional issues that became an emergency it was a good thing to be able to drop everything, get in my car, and drive out to see him. When my sister was in the ER about 1200 kilometers away, same thing. People argue for flight in those cases, but that would have taken longer and been more expensive.
As for kids, while things may be difficult in the future, I have faith that humankind will face and overcome the challenges thrown at the species. Humans have done so in the past, and I trust that they will do so in the future. Further, humans are not responsible for situations/actions that they had no hand in, had no say in, and have no control over. If people really want to start pointing blame for the way things are, they will inevitably be pointing fingers at some dead person or dead group of people. We can deal with things now, but unless someone can get the US congress to stop giving oil companies corporate welfare (voting hasn't helped despite Americans voting for candidates who had this as a campaign promise), I do not see anything changing.