Yeah. It’s kind of ignorant to expect the same fine for say a disabled person unable to work who scrapes by on 900 euros a month vs a super wealthy person on 500k euros a year.
Fines shouldn’t really exist anyways. When for one person they’re a random expense that doesn’t even bat an eye vs for another person it means no food for a week.
Even progressive fines are unfair. In that for someone who barely affords food every week losing 2% of your monthly income is devastating. While for a rich person they won’t even notice losing 2% of their income.
What would be the alternative though? Jail would be a bit harsh for a parking violation, and all other punishments I can think of would also be unfair to some people.
Community work discriminates against the single parent, favoring the childless unemployed.
Losing the drivers license for a month discriminates against the rural population while city folks can use the bus to get to work. Or even a cab if they’re rich enough.
Even in jail you would be better off if you are rich, as you can bribe the guards or buy some level of comfort.
Until we get rid of the rich, any punishment will be somewhat biased. But not punishing misdemeanors at all would not really be an option either.
Losing the drivers license for a month discriminates against the rural population while city folks can use the bus to get to work. Or even a cab if they’re rich enough.
Rural people got around fine before the automobile. They walked or rode a horse. Nobody needs a car.
You don’t need to live 50km away from where you work. People from before cars would never dream of such an outrageous lifestyle.
That kind of decadence, traveling 50km twice every day, was enabled by unsustainable technology which is killing the biosphere. We need to stop this kind of wasteful excess, or climate collapse will stop it for us. We can have people living 50km away from work, but that 50km needs to be 50km of railway line. It can’t be an asphalt road, that’s too expensive to the world. The debt is coming due.
My municipality made a study where they looked at the carbon footprint of residents in three different areas. Those with the highest carbon emissions lived right in the city center, next to where they work. The ones in suburbs were right in the middle with respect to carbon dioxide generated by their lifestyle. Lowest were those living 30 km or more away from the city center.
I drive to get to work, nothing else. I don’t drive to the store, I don’t buy clothes, I don’t fly to holiday destinations. I don’t need or want to, since I have everything I love right outside my door. Those who live in cities are statistically those who need to make the largest changes to their lifestyle if we are to save the planet.
Even though city-dwellers may not see a starry night for a long time, rural residents still emit more carbon emissions than their slick city counterparts.
The BBC article agrees. When carbon emissions are compared between residents of rural and urban areas, the former appear to have a higher carbon footprint.
Homes in large towns or apartments in cities tend to be smaller and denser, thus easier to heat. People in cities drive short distances to work or may even commute to work, but residents in rural areas tend to drive long distances for work or leisure.
Just looked what it would cost if you get caught doing that here in the Netherlands, answer: 159 euros. Good, but should be higher.
As all fines, it should be income adjusted. I wanna see a 5000€ fine when some rich asshole does this.
Yeah. It’s kind of ignorant to expect the same fine for say a disabled person unable to work who scrapes by on 900 euros a month vs a super wealthy person on 500k euros a year.
Fines shouldn’t really exist anyways. When for one person they’re a random expense that doesn’t even bat an eye vs for another person it means no food for a week.
Even progressive fines are unfair. In that for someone who barely affords food every week losing 2% of your monthly income is devastating. While for a rich person they won’t even notice losing 2% of their income.
What would be the alternative though? Jail would be a bit harsh for a parking violation, and all other punishments I can think of would also be unfair to some people.
Until we get rid of the rich, any punishment will be somewhat biased. But not punishing misdemeanors at all would not really be an option either.
Rural people got around fine before the automobile. They walked or rode a horse. Nobody needs a car.
I’ve got a horse but there’s no stables outside my workplace. Walking 50 km to work would take the whole day.
You don’t need to live 50km away from where you work. People from before cars would never dream of such an outrageous lifestyle.
That kind of decadence, traveling 50km twice every day, was enabled by unsustainable technology which is killing the biosphere. We need to stop this kind of wasteful excess, or climate collapse will stop it for us. We can have people living 50km away from work, but that 50km needs to be 50km of railway line. It can’t be an asphalt road, that’s too expensive to the world. The debt is coming due.
My municipality made a study where they looked at the carbon footprint of residents in three different areas. Those with the highest carbon emissions lived right in the city center, next to where they work. The ones in suburbs were right in the middle with respect to carbon dioxide generated by their lifestyle. Lowest were those living 30 km or more away from the city center.
I drive to get to work, nothing else. I don’t drive to the store, I don’t buy clothes, I don’t fly to holiday destinations. I don’t need or want to, since I have everything I love right outside my door. Those who live in cities are statistically those who need to make the largest changes to their lifestyle if we are to save the planet.
https://climateadaptationplatform.com/who-has-the-bigger-carbon-footprint-rural-or-urban-dwellers/