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Comment by high_byte | Hacker News Reader

how fun it must be in the US where you can customize and pretty much do whatever to your car

We do love our dangerous freedom. I mean that unironically.

“Our political situation is prodigiously changed since you left us. Instead of that noble love of liberty, and that republican government, which carried us triumphantly thro the dangers of the war, an Anglo-Monarchio-Aristocratic party has arisen. Their avowed object is to impose on us the substance, as they have already given us the form, of the British government. Nevertheless, the principal body of our citizens remain faithful to republican principles. All our proprietors of lands are friendly to those principles, as also the mass of men of talents. We have against us the Executive Power, the Judiciary Power, all the officers of government, all who are seeking offices, all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty, the British merchants and the Americans who trade on British capitals, the speculators, persons interested in the bank and the public funds. Establishments invented with views of corruption, and to assimilate us to the British model in its corrupt parts.”

—Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), letter to Phillip Mazzei

> "an Anglo-Monarchio-Aristocratic party has arisen"

He's talking about Federalists.

Was he wrong? The Federalists strongly asserted that it wouldn't devolve into a national government and, well, here we are!

He was not wrong.

What is wrong is to allow Federalists into public office.

rolling coal, tube chassis race cars with legit tags, no annual vehicle safety inspections, crumbling infrastructure, whats not to love?

Unfortunately, what's actually left of that freedom is quickly slipping away.

Texas, one of the most obnoxiously anti-fed states, requires annual inspections.

the places with lots of people do not allow you to do this.

for example, california has CARB regulations which prevent many engine modifications unless they are certified. it can’t be too loud, etc.

my local racetrack (laguna seca) even has strict regulations for sound (90db)

despite that, car noise regulations don’t seem to be very enforceable, if my LA neighborhood that the fast and furious crowd like to growl and peel out through is any indication. there are skid marks (plus pollution) and occasionally wrecked parked cars left as a result (there’s one now that’s completely totaled).

i’d be up for legalizing the throwing of eggs at them as a reasonable level of retaliation. =D

> i’d be up for legalizing the throwing of eggs at them as a reasonable level of retaliation.

Until you hit their windshield and they hit somebody because they can't see due to your egg...

yes, that was said facetiously if it wasn't obvious from the =D at the end. just my sweet little revenge fantasy. =)

yeah, definitely selective enforcement happening. i have a neighbor with a modified exhaust that is insanely loud.

How fun it must be to have twice the amount of car fatalities (per capita compared to EU).

Per km would be a more fair comparison, since Europeans drive a lot less. Yes, the per km numbers are worse than say in Germany, but similar to e.g. Belgium, which is a first world nation with high standards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r...

Interestingly, Germany is also known for its unusual (within EU) acceptance of modified cars and high speeds...

Where else can you expect a heavily modded Volkswagen Golf from the 90's to overtake you at 220 km/h on your way to work?

Modifications are actually strictly controlled, compared to the US, also your vehicle has to pass a mandatory safety check every two years.

The high speeds are a point of controversy. The pro high speed people say we have a low death rate, the pro speed limit people say all the studies indicate it could be way lower with more sane limits.

Your example is actually somewhat common and it can be surprising how a car that isn't in view on your first mirror check can be next to you on your next mirror check, when you're driving 120kph.

The fact that your modifications are strictly controlled DOES cause a market demand, that drives innovation and high quality in the aftermarket parts industry. Especially when it comes to engine modifications where they must be emissions-compliant. We have a lot of these hard regulations to thank for the availability of good quality aftermarket parts (compared to say, the 1950's and 60's.)

This, however, comes with the drawback of a quite high price. And there are quite a few things you can do in the US which you may not do in Germany, for example under car lightning, additional front lighting (think the illuminated Mercedes logos), anything that negatively impacts the emission profile much and - my personal pain point - large wing spoilers.

I can see the reason for most of these - if you're allowed to go 300km/h in that car, it should definitely be in a good condition -, but it's not without drawbacks.

And then there are those who consider the high speeds a considerable safety win (because it greatly reduces inattentiveness for everybody involved), and only advocate for limits because of the massive energy demand of high speed.

Not Germany, thats for sure. Germany is regulated up the ass, TUV approved bumpers, lights, bike racks, tail pipes, gas caps, everything.

Yes, approvals are required, but this approval is straight up impossible in most EU countries.

Just get a motorbike! Whenever I got stopped by the police and showed them my paperwork (i.e. a huge list of ABEs - like 10 or so), they just got annoyed and told me to just drive away already ;)

Half the stuff wasn't even approved for my bike, but no one ever checks if you just confidently hand over a small book worth of paperwork...

this wouldn't happen if every kid had a gun to protect themselves

This is the fundamental tradeoff of the American way of life. Freedom to versus freedom from.

Haha, Sorry but Americans THINK they know freedom. The US is full of regulation and red tape. Let’s see you buy a house and do whatever you want on the property, even in rural areas.

3rd world countries have the true freedom to do what you want

That's the true greatness of the US though. Finding a balance between provision for the rule of law, enforcement of contracts, protection of civil liberties, and environmental/food/drug regulation alongside the right to do whatever the hell you want personally. It's why many things like our homicide rate, car fatality rate, and poverty rates can seem third world in nature, yet our institutions and regulatory agencies are the gold standard for the world.

Poverty, infant mortality, mutagens and endocrine disruptors in drinking water, police impunity, more incarcerated than entire rest of the world combined, institutional corruption, $140M fighter jet with 600+ designed-in class 1 faults that cannot be cancelled because its parts are contracted out to 48 different states.

So, yes, "third world in nature". But the billionaires find life here pretty convenient.

3rd world countries have the true freedom to do what you want

And others have freedom to what they want to you. Unless you’re rich and/or connected.

I do own a house I had built on rural property, and there's a lot more lattitude (you might call it "freedom") for what you can do on your property.

On the other hand, no matter where you live, there's always a few "karens" in the neighborhood who will do what they can to keep you from say, renting your property out and having large numbers of otherwise homeless people setting up a tent-city. (that seems to be one of the hard limits).

I live in a rural area in the US and I’m having a hard time coming up with anything that I couldn’t do on/to my property. I can shoot guns. I could blow stuff up. I regularly go in my hot tub naked. I couldn’t make drugs, I suppose.

Selling the property afterwards is another story, as things need to be up to code.

More than gov, I am bothered by HOAssholes in our community. These people are the worst, the most empty people on the planet. Being part of the HOA leadership doesn't mean you're an emperor of this land that I paid for.

I would kill to get out in the country side and buy my own piece of land without HOA.

Makes me angry just thinking about this.

Can you open a gas station in your front yard?

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