Much more people own cars than they should be based on common sense. We assume that you have access to a developed public transportation network or affordable taxis, Uber or Lyft type of service. This covers most people in Europe. While I prefer to look at stuff from a personal standpoint in I Grow Younger and leave considerations for the whole of humanity to my other blogs, I still have to mention that a privately owned car costs the world a lot of raw materials and carbon emissions to get produced and then it’s usually used 5-10% of the time while idle for the rest. Not exactly effective.
The main factors about the car ownership choice for someone in an environment suitable for alternatives are income and the quality of alternatives.
Advantages of car ownership
Having a car comes with a certain feeling of Freedom that you can go anywhere, anytime. This is really important for being a Hunter.
The car can be an important tool for helping other people in need who do not have cars.
If you know how to fix minor issues with your car, maintaining one can be a Hunter experience in the Game of Self.
Disadvantages of car ownership
The main one – driving the car is a huge Time sink, you can use this time way better.
Parking wherever you go is a constant annoyance and sometimes not free.
You need a garage or parking spot where you live, a car takes significant space.
The car is a constant money sink – taxes, insurance, registration fees when you buy it, etc.
The car is a constant time sink – it has to be cleaned and maintained regularly and filled with gas often.
Cars atomize society (everyone feels more isolated in their small safe box) compared to alternatives.
The disadvantages are significant.
Let’s analyze the time and money involved:
- If you earn too little money, the car is a choice too expensive for you.
- If you earn too much money, the car is (again!) a choice too expensive for you.
Car ownership in case of low income (your money is more valuable than your time)
In this case, the car is a used car of questionable quality. Due to our human nature, we think that if stuff never broke down till now, it will never break (The Gambler’s fallacy). Stuff does break down leading to the worst concept in effectivity – a total sink. Usually in life when you sacrifice time you don’t enjoy, at least you earn money, otherwise, why do it at all. However, there are two major total sinks often out of our control – health problems 🙁 and car problems. These lead to burning time and money at the same time.
In case you lease a new car while not being financially stable, you’re also risking too much, it’s just that now your finances are a single point of failure.
The alternatives: Walk, run (you’ll live longer!), bike, public transit, carpool, hitchhike in remote areas. After all, you can afford a taxi in exceptional cases too.
From a Game of Self perspective, this is a good foundation for your Hunter vs Sheep cycles. If your car keeps breaking down it’s hard to avoid some Sheep time because you probably cannot fix it yourself and feeling helpless is what invites the Sheep in quicker than anything.
On the other hand, scrambling your routines between being on foot or bike, public transit, carpooling and hitchhiking while on vacations is classic Hunter behavior that will keep you energized, motivated, and entertained.
Car ownership in case of high income (your time is more valuable than your money)
The closest analogy of a car is a taxi.
To calculate finances, let’s imagine you’re both the driver and the passenger in a taxi and Passenger-you is paying Driver-you for the ride. Passenger-you is sacrificing money for time and Driver-you is sacrificing time for money in a zero-sum transaction. Who do you actually wanna be?
- If your time is more valuable, you want to be Passenger-you and give the money
- If your money is more valuable, you want to be Driver-you and give the time
Whenever you’re driving it’s just Driver-you giving your time to save money. I have to remind you that time is the least renewable resource for any human being.
Taxis and Taxi/Uber/Lyft drivers are not perfect, I get that. However, the important thing to remember is neither are you and your car. We simply hold taxis to very high standards as it’s a paid service we take for granted. So we tend to react differently in similar situations.
So if your time is significantly more valuable than the average wage of a taxi driver, you can simply ditch car ownership and ride in taxis/Uber/Lyft while in the city. While it’s a significant drain of your money (though great for the economy!), it’s a huge savior of time and Energy and the focus gained will be a huge boost to your life plans. You are not responsible anymore and will feel truly liberated if you give up a bit of control in the Game of Self and accept the new, better reality.
