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Comment by ethbr0 | Hacker News Reader

> ... able to ignore what's best for humanity while we ask all the regular people to make sacrifices

What is the purpose of life without joy?

If we pass a working planet onto future generations, then those of the future who want the thrill of a finely tuned ICE engine should have an opportunity to experience it. After all, we did.

The greatest tragedy of the environmental movement is it has allowed its well-funded adversaries to cast it as a a dour, sacrificial dogma. We can and should leave room for joy.

Because, in the broader calculus, occasional joy + usual responsibility >> no joy + all responsibility.

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> After all, we did.

And we destroyed much of the planet doing it. Maybe it was a bad idea when we did it too. When joy becomes an argument for leniency you imply there is really no urgency. That is probably why the environmental movement is not very joyful. They want change now.

They've wanted change now, since the 1970s. And while there have been some wins (air, water, ozone, banned pollutants), there has been little action on the part of the public. Other than an awareness of recycling, which is the least good lesson to take away. At some point, practice needs to be informed by results.

Leniency is distinct from tolerance.

The former allows rules to be broken; the latter formulates flexible rules that still accomplish the overall goal.

Most driving enthusiasts, once they experience the instant torque of electric cars, never look back. That's joy.

Perhaps a tiny minority are more interested in exhaust notes than accelerating out of a corner, and I suppose they will remain petrol heads, but with classic cars, since ICE technology is a dead end now.

> Most driving enthusiasts, once they experience the instant torque of electric cars, never look back. That's joy.

What is this based on? Really isn’t the case in any auto enthusiast group I know of except ones that are extremely casual/Tesla-fanboys. If it were, all the people I know wouldn’t be buying GT3s, Huracans, R8s, etc. I know 0 who bought electric. I’m in the market myself for another car but I’m not looking at an electric car - gonna buy another ICE sports car because they have a lot more emotion and character. Not like any electric sports cars even really exist at this point anyway… or are still in production I guess.

I have read several reviews where people comment that, "driving is way better without the complications of an ICE and a transmission between you and the road". Instant torque changes your relationship with speed: it is ground, tires, suspension, torque and you. Before, there was a complicated interplay of RPMs, turbo spin up, clutch adjustment, gear ratios, etc between you and the suspension.

Plenty of joys will be left alone. We don't need to make new special exceptions for rich pigs to preserve their rare decadent pleasures.

> If we pass a working planet onto future generations, then those of the future who want the thrill of a finely tuned ICE engine should have an opportunity to experience it. After all, we did.

For a start, most people have not experienced the thrill of a highly tuned internal combustion engine. A few rich people have. Second, do you really want to define what people should be able to do by what people have done in the past? Really? You might want to think that through a bit more. There are plenty of things people did in the past that people are still apologising for today, generations later.

If you just compared driving gasoline powered engines to slavery, I'm not sure we have much ground for discussion.

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