We live in times when a lot of knowledge we have is consumed from external sources, be it media, friends, observation etc… The accrual of knowledge by thinking and experimenting has taken a back seat since it is usually slow and longwinded. In such situations, responsible external influences, specifically media (respectable media) has the responsibility to provide accurate and sensible commentary on issues.

I came across this article in the WSJ. If you wish to know, it is getting some flak from the commuting community (that sounds silly).

To me, the article reeks of elitism. The author misses the point of cycling in China. To him, it seems that medals in Olympics is more important that a large population sustaining their lifestyle without falling back on polluting fossil fuels. the argument he makes is analogous to saying there is no point walking if you don’t take part in a competition. He also conveniently makes an understatement that the richer you get, the more you should rely on fossil fuels and lesser on other modes of commuting. In fact the reality is that the richer you get, the more education you can afford and you can make a good decision on the best mode for commute.

This feller is not alone, the marketing machinery for the bicycle industry (and the automobile industry) have ben very successful in brainwashing people to believe that one should rely on cars (not public transport / bicycles) if you can afford and should strive to afford it. Secondly, they have convinced the mass that cycling should be seen as a sport and a weekend recreational pursuit instead of being a core means of transport.

We on the other hand, are slowly stopping individual thought and lopping up the bull-shit that comes out of reputable media, to the extent that we do not question any analysis presented in such articles.

Personally I do not argue against anyone’s choice of transport, I believe everyone picks what is most convenient to them, like I do when I use my bike. I just hope that people can give biking a chance as a mode of transport and when they do, they can figure out for themselves, the benefits and issues that comes along with the choice. To me, the benefits outweigh the cons and I would continue commuting on bike for a long while to come.

Related posts:

1. perspective
2. Inspiration
3. Haulin
4. cycling shoes
5. groove – getting into it

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm and is filed under bicycle commuting in singapore, bike, musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.