This guy makes some good points, but jeez he is so condescending and pretentious. It's really easy for a guy who makes YouTube videos and lives in a crowded European city to pass judgement on people who live lives completely different than his.
I am literally going to take my F150 and haul some lumber after work today, and the economic opportunities that having that ability affords me are so valuable to me as someone trying to build a home for myself and my family.
It just smacks of condescension to me when this guy writing this script sitting in a European cafe pretends that he understands all the possible uses that normal hard-working people use these cars for.
I'm not even disagreeing with him on a lot of his points, there are plenty of people who don't truly need one of these big cars, but there are also TONS of people who have uses for them.
> This guy makes some good points, but jeez he is so condescending and pretentious. It's really easy for a guy who makes YouTube videos and lives in a crowded European city to pass judgement on people who live lives completely different than his.
He has lived in those "completely different" places. He grew up in one of those areas: he moved to a crowded European city. He grew up in London, Ontario ("fake London")—which has typical post-WW2 car-centric layouts which he features regularly in his vides—, lived in Toronto, lived all over the world. He used to consult all over the world and has visited many cities around the world: see his video "Why City Design is Important (and Why I Hate Houston)" for some of the backstory:
After seeing all the different options, and initially trying to settle in Toronto—see his video "Suburbs that don't Suck - Streetcar Suburbs (Riverdale, Toronto)":
he and his wife decided to move to Amsterdam to raise their kids.
It wasn't random chance that he ended in Europe, but a conscious choice. He looked at the options and chose the one that he though was best.
And he has been asked about the 'tone' of this videos: his answer was/is: he doesn't care about how he comes off because (in his opinion) trying to be "nice" to the dumbasses that try to justify the stupidity of car-centric society that is destroying our planet is pointless. Either you have a brain and can see how bad this way of thinking/designing is, or you don't have a brain. He's tired of pussy footing around the (in his view) stupidity: there is no reason to bankrupt cities/society and destroy the planet for this lifestyle when you can (and people do) have high quality of life without car-centric living (in his view).
> Either you have a brain and can see how bad this way of thinking/designing is, or you don't have a brain.
Your description has further solidified OP's claim that this person is condescending and pretentious. This kind of thinking is extremely narrow and doesn't take any other factors into account (like having the means and lack of family responsibility to move wherever you want). It also implies that believing a dumb idea means you are a dumb person, which also isn't necessarily true and lacks any real insight.
> Your description has further solidified OP's claim that this person is condescending and pretentious.
It's not the GP's claim that "this person", Jason Slaughter, "is condescending and pretentious." Jason Slaughter has (IIRC) himself said that he makes videos with the tone of condescension on purpose.
Slaughter is tired of (in his view) the bullshit of trying to justify lifestyles and urban design choices that are killing people, bankrupting communities, and damaging the the planet. The specific tone is on purpose and a conscious choice in the scripting and creation of his videos. He wants change, and he seems to be (AFAICT) tired of 'being nice' and reasonable while policy barely moves forward.
(Whether the narration in the videos is a bit of 'character' he plays on Youtube to get his view/frustration across, or his actual personality, is something I do not know. I'll have to find the interview where he talks about this 'style'.)
In general most people making a certain point will not disagree that there are exceptions to it. Just assuming that they are not aware of those exceptions is dishonest or at the very least not very perceptive.
Also, quote directly from the video (14:25): “And if you do live in a rural area you might need to drive a light truck and obviously that’s fine and I don’t care. But we are talking about suburbia here …”
I've got uses for my own pickup, which is a 2000 Ford Ranger.
Really about all I need is a 1980s sized Toyota Pickup/Hilux with a long bed would be great, updated for modern standards.
The idiotic way that trucks are turning into massive 4-door tanks with tiny 4.5 foot beds is not what I want as a consumer who wants to own a truck.
The market seems to very much be driven by people who aren't hauling lumber based on the bedsize. There's more and more pics showing up on social media now of idiots with 2x4s sticking out of the passenger compartments of new trucks because the bed size is so shit small.
I'm a big fan of all the derision that he pours on the trucks that are being sold right now.
They have been this way for a generation.
This guy makes some good points, but jeez he is so condescending and pretentious. It's really easy for a guy who makes YouTube videos and lives in a crowded European city to pass judgement on people who live lives completely different than his.
I am literally going to take my F150 and haul some lumber after work today, and the economic opportunities that having that ability affords me are so valuable to me as someone trying to build a home for myself and my family.
It just smacks of condescension to me when this guy writing this script sitting in a European cafe pretends that he understands all the possible uses that normal hard-working people use these cars for.
I'm not even disagreeing with him on a lot of his points, there are plenty of people who don't truly need one of these big cars, but there are also TONS of people who have uses for them.