Ivan Illich dies
=v= I am saddened to hear about the passing of Ivan Illich, a unconventional yet cogent social thinker. In his 1974 essay, "Energy and Equity," Illich demonstrated that the time saved by owning and using a car was less than that spent earning money to buy, fuel, and maintain one. His reasoning was what first led me to think seriously about living — and thriving — car-free.
ObComix: A cartoon version of Illich was on hand for the very first appearance of Roadkill Bill, and there was a series of "Illichville" strips in Roadkill Bill last year.
"... that the time saved by owning and using a car was less than that spent earning money to buy, fuel, and maintain one. "
Didn't he get the idea from Thoureau?
I don't have time to read it, maybe Illich states this explicitly.
To explain, as I vaguely recall it, let's say 150 years ago, lets say you were a young guy, that is to say, a not rich person, and that you wanted to travel to place a 100 or so miles distant. You could buy a train ticket, but you'd have to work to pay for it, and the time it would take to make the money, say a few days, (the economics were different then), you could just walk there. So for the same amount of your time, you get the additional benefit of the adventure of the trip, camping on the way, meeting people, enjoying your freedom, be healthier (if your job is not healthy), avoid need to build a railroad, and still get there.
Anybody know if this was Thoureau, or where did I read that? I don't have time to look up the referneces.
Posted by carl on December 8 2002 13:49