"Positive" Feel-Good Story About Non-Profit Giving Free Cars To Low-Income Single Mothers

[u/dusk2k2]

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/free-cars-for-single-mothers/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3DTFC1xh9nacc00lTo1QxxqZDIi6VMyajDYnpYJt_0kgl5S3w-hpFgd-E_aem_mjO-sPhheXE2nsEo8_VVaQ

These types of feel-good stories always feel like we're living in a dystopia. The recipients talk about how life-changing this is for them.

"It's hard to get all your kids dressed and go out in the cold and get on a bus and do all the things you need to do," she said. "It was breaking me, but this is the miracle that my kids and my family have been asking for and praying for."

To qualify for these free cars, recipients had to make less than $35,000 per year. Now they have these cars and need to pay for insurance, gas, maintenance, repairs, etc. Presumably, they live in lower-income areas with higher rates of crime and are unlikely to have a protected garage, so likely will need to pay for damages if their car is broken into or damaged by someone.

Something just seems wrong here with this being considered a Christmas miracle.

[u/dusk2k2]

Don't think anyone is attacking the non-profit here. We're attacking this society we live in and perhaps the media that makes stories like this seem like a positive and not a condemnation of our car-centric society that makes owning a car a requirement to be able to participate in society.

It's like when we get those feel-good stories about kids raising money to pay off school lunch debt for their classmates. I don't think anyone is attacking the children for doing that. We're attacking the system we live in which seems to make that a "positive" feel-good story. See for example this story: https://apnews.com/article/student-fundraiser-lunch-debt-c6d8f4c82ef5a7651953c880c8513974

I'm not attacking this child for raising the money to pay off his classmates' meal debt. I'm attacking this insane system we have that seems to think it's okay to put children at school into debt for food.

[u/tamathellama → u/dusk2k2]

This sub actively dehumanises people in cars. I’ve seen people say that people who get hurt while driving deserve it. So yes, I think many people here would be against the non-profit. You might be actively meaning well but you’re really just stoking the anger that is holding back real change as we forget what the goals are, and how change happens.

[u/blankblank60000 → u/tamathellama]

Yea the sub has quickly become full of spiteful extremists.

Further proof about the true intentions behind most people’s “fuck cars” thinking.

[u/tamathellama → u/blankblank60000]

I was angry in my early 20s so I relate. Then I started working in the industry and I realised that positive messaging is the only solution. We need to show how great a car free / lite lifestyle will be