And they get people so ornery that they start shooting one another. You get rich, you buy cars. Get a pay raise and you drive even more. The auto-industrial lobby would love for us to buy the hype. They too would have us believe that, despite all the car's appalling social and ecological failings, more cars and more driving are good for our economies.
Cars are a necessary evil.
The calculus goes like this. You buy a car, more profit for Ford, more jobs for you. Fill up your tank, more profit for Exxon. An oil change at Mr. Lube, new tires from the Michelin Man, new brakes at Midas. More profit, more jobs.