Personally, I hate cars too and I don't drive and don't own one(I'm 19:)) However, last year I was in London doing a foundation on film and there were times when I wished to god I had a car. Lugging a big travel suitcase full of camera equipment/monitors/lights and then holding another heavy tripod over the shoulder while going up and down stairs in the London underground going from location to location, from tube station to tube station, across the park, then paying the ridiculous taxi fees when we couldn't take transport was really and honestly not a fun experience. I just started doing driving lessons so at least next year I can maybe rent one whenever I really need one for filming. And even when it's not completely necessary, there are times when it's plain convenient. The only undeniable fact is that in the current world situation , it is a luxury, full stop.

Wanting anything just because other people have one, is probably unhealthy - whether it's a car or a camera. Surely what you do with what you have, is the important thing.

>It will change... when oil goes skyrocketing.

If it'll skyrocket real high, many US and some Europian cities will be in trouble.
Many had been build with cars in mind, so you can't really do anything without it.

Well... when we had only 5% oil shortage which resulted $150 oil in 2008, guess what would happen when the peak oil is confirmed.

What really concerns me is the food price. Sure everyone wanna own super nice cars. But no one can live without food. My coworker has been commuting w/ her bike for last 3 years. She consumes about twice more foods to be able to pedal. Sudden panic in oil causes food price skyrocketing, too. We have huge global food trading. Higher transportation cost on the final food price. It seems everything is pointing to higher food price unless we invent food pills like vitamin pills. Aging farmers, ruining farming lands, food epidemics, more bad weather. Collapse in global agribusiness will create a total pain. More hunger. More panic. More riot. More... etc.

The way I see is that things will change whether we like it or not. It's been like that for decades, centuries, right? Before the subprime mortgage bubble burst in 2007 summer, there was food scare crisis in 2007 spring. Whenever there's food crisis, I think market will follow with major crash. Only mother earth can this madness. This year is particularly bad food cropping. Precursor to major market crash?

>Well... when we had only 5% oil shortage which resulted $150 oil in 2008,

It was more complicated in 2008. Commodities 2008 hike theories exist and I doubdt that anyone can seriously think hat it had been oil shortage.

As for food price.
I always say to someone who want to invest - invest in basic food industry.
Corn, wheat, meat, bread production. Water is also good. It will be new Apple :-)

>Whenever there's food crisis, I think market will follow with major crash.

Current market could crash even from one fart :-) All you need is mass panic and uncertainty.
But it won't be crash as previous one, this will be more like small dip->uncertainty rise->fast printing->uncertainty rise->mass media lies->uncertainty rise->more speeches and money->uncertainty rise->hyper on commodities with parallel stock market rise (but without inflation it'll be huge crash).

+1. Car gives more freedom. More privacy.

>Car gives more freedom. More privacy

Tank gives even more freedom and even more privacy. :-)

>Fart effect like butterfly effect?

Kind of. Because current system is mathematically unstable.

>Mathematicians may be brilliant but not smart.

You mean that I am plain stupid? :-)

>All these derivative markets r based on mathematic model that can calculate risk values, right?

Right. And this models work perfectly.
But in all models you can find initial conditions and restrictions.
Same for derivatives. They are dangerous if used outside models.
Especially if mass hysteria starts.
Same as insurance, btw.

>>I am very interested to know why all think that they need a car.

Not everyone thinks that way. Some people prefer other means of transportation, because it's practical and all they can afford. In Bali, Indonesia for example, the moped or motorcycle is the way most people get around. Of course, those pollute a lot more than a modern automobile.

Ultimately though, humankind has been moving onward and upward in transportation ever since the wheel was invented. Before cars, there were carriages and wagons and people needed them to move their goods from the farm to the market and/or from the market back to home. And since the car, we've seen airplanes and privately-owned spaceships.

You might as well ask why people have more than one camera or more than one computer.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with raising the standard of living for people around the world. Clean water, access to food and housing, transportation and medical systems seem like good things to me.

Myself, and for full-disclosure, I have access to three cars: one for my home in California; one for my home in Washington State, and one furnished by my employer. Most of the time, I just take public transit, because it's more convenient, but when I need a car to visit friends/family, do photography, or just need to be somewhere that's not easy to get to via mass transit, a car cannot be beaten. Frankly, a car gives me some personal freedom, a feeling I first experienced when I learned to drive as a teen.

Why do all think that they need a car? Once you've experienced that freedom to go anywhere, be anywhere, and feel like you can do anything whenever you want, of course people want a car.

I hate cars.

Luckily over time the curent demographics show that we are all moving into big citys. In the long run people will start to take more public transportation and live closer to work.

When I was living in San Francisco we had a company called City Car which let you rent cars from your cellphone or from the web. They had cars spread out in the city so if need one you make a reservation, walk up to it and swipe it with your RFID card. It was amazing and made me feel like I was living in the future.

@Vitaliy Yes there are water ETFs since last year. No I will not invest in water. Speculative money going into water and food... manipulating futures and playing with contango... squeezing more out of most commoners. Even if it might be next Apple, it just seems wrong thing to do.

Oh nooooo.... but he dont give a shit about me.... sad... but so true.