Philosophy Week continues here at Jalopnik. Cars are destroying the world. I would like to right now completely take global warming off the table. For today's thought exercise just forget carbon emissions completely. Just under 3,000 people died as a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. 3,677 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and 422 in Afghanistan along with 292 other dead coalition forces. Yet every year here in America, more than 44,000 people die in traffic accidents. In 1999, 1,170, 694 people were fatally injured in auto accidents. That's insane.
Say what you want about Ron Paul, but at least part of the reason we were attacked is because of our presence in the Middle East. Why are we there for the most part? Oil. In fact, every country that produces oil is ticked off at us. The Russians are trying to restart the cold war, Venezuela hates our guts and even Canada thinks we're a bunch of SUV-crazed ninnies. And let's not even think about what happens when China decides it would like a piece of the oil we import. There are currently 1,240 Superfund sites in the US. What's a Superfund site? A piece of land so totally polluted that the government steps in and does something. General Motors is responsible for 81 of them. Actually, they polluted 97 locations, but 15 have been cleaned up and one is pending. Still, 81 locations that are too toxic for humans? And that's just GM. There's also a direct correlation between the amount of time you spend in a car and your waistline (hint: cars don't make you skinny) and of course the increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and everything else that goes along with being a nation of lard asses. And you know what? Global warming's a bitch, too. Still, even with all that said, I'd rather give up sex than the internal combustion engine. You?
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