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You know about the traffic in this city, of course, everybody knows about
it. And, so what do politicians do in a case like that. I’m thinking of local
municipal politicians in our country and in your country. Maybe some others
evolve as well. But if you offer to just build your way out of the problem by
making more freeways, more expressways, more roadways for cars, that
produces one solution. If you take what I think for a very good ecological
reason. It’s been well established and you take an approach that favors public
transit, and walking, and bicycling and so on. You get a different kind of set of
responses from politicians, but people do not vote for people who want to cut
back on cars if they are car drivers. They have to think, hah! how do I get
increased moderation? How do I increase immunity and not being car
dependent? as what planners call it. How do I get out of dependence on cars?
Even though, I know, I personally like to use my car, and in fact, you have to,
in a city like this if you have. You have kids who you take to day care, then
you get to school, and then you go to work and so on. This is very hard to
use public transit.
I think Bangkok is doing a great job. I say in comparison to many other
cities, certainly, in North America. But there will be more done unless we have
politicians who say “Vote for me because I’m going to help you do less, or
else, we are in deep trouble.” And, they are doing less than that, an urban, for
example, I’ve just given you the urban transit versus urban car growth. Grow
by growth, for example. It’s not just a matter of what the attitudes are of the
individual. That’s not good enough. If I have to take the bus myself because all
I’m doing is cutting somebody else off when the bus passes by. I got to be
taking an active political role, which is a democratic function, of course, and
saying let’s vote for people who are going to build more public transit, more
bikeways. Make it safer for pedestrians. Last night I tried to go and I couldn’t
cross the street, because it’s very dangerous. Just crossed the street to where
I was staying. We have to think about ways to change the way we’re doing
things, not just in our individual activities and habits, but the kinds of people
that we elect to be the decision makers on our behalf.
So, I think sufficiency economy is the solution in this day and age when
the welfare states have… It’s not that they have run the course. I love my
welfare state or every Canadian that I know likes the fact that we have
medical care. We like that fact, but we can’t have it if we don’t figure ways
to do things differently than we have done, because, so far, we have been
growth dependent, not just car dependent. We’ve got to think of different ways 0QFOJOH LFZOPUF BEESFTT
in doing things. So, sufficiency economy philosophy forces these elements that
if you apply them to democracy will lead to a healthier outcomes for the
society overall.
