Ah, my dear Lady C., you're right, of course when you say we're not doing a bang-up job of re-inventing our way of life, and appear to be clinging to the past. But keep in mind that necessity is the mother of invention. We'll only stop eating greasy hamburgers when there are no more greasy steers.
I have faith that just as our ancestors rode horses, our descendants will ride bicycles. What choice will they have? So it's not really faith, it's a belief based on evidence. Peak oil is here, despite the recent price drop due to demand destruction, and peak oil is not going to go away.
Americans may not believe this at the moment. They tend to think that the wild oscillations in the price of oil are the result of some sinister manipulation or scam. But as Philip K. Dick the science fiction writer said, "Reality is the one thing that when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away."
Bicycles are better than cars or horses, because they don't consume petrol, don't eat hay, and they poo not.
The other thing we need to give up besides cars is golf, a bourgeoise preoccupation that results in the wasting and toxification of good agricultural land. And fortunately, gardening is the new golf.
The golf car is another matter, however. That little item should stay and prosper.
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For the kind of "driving" that I do, a golf cart or small electric car would be ideal. However, since I live in New Jersey, I would be roadkill in less than 5 minutes. There would have to be dedicated cart and mini-car paths running parallel to the actual road. As to bicycles, same thing. There'd have to be a dedicated path.
There are a few major European cities that have already sorted it out. Thus, working from the outside in, it's: trucks, buses, cars, and full-size electric cars and hybrids; tiny electric cars and motocycles; then bicycles, mopeds, power scooters, and Segways; and finally, on the actual sidewalk, pedestrians.
I honestly don't know if Americans could ever be that orderly.
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