Is Elon Musk ready for the straitjacket ?

On Saturday, 14 October 2017 01:02:56 UTC+2, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:

Perhaps he's really talking about forcing all the *people* out of
cities, too. That's as likely to happen.

Cities seem to be more popular than rural living right around the globe.
Perhaps AI and robotics will allow rural living for the mass unemployed which will inevitably follow.

Many car journeys are very short as the human race becomes ever more lazy.
Short journeys in stop-start traffic are the worst for pollution since the car never really warms up.
Alternative, short range transport for the masses is not nearly as attractive as the whim-ready private car.

In comparison, electric bicycles/scooters/mopeds are ridiculously expensive. They offer little protection from the weather and have very poor load carrying capacity.
Adding a fairing, roof or bubble enclosure makes them bulky, unwieldy and very unstable in windy conditions.
Gyroscopic stability is possible though the Segway hasn't remotely taken off for mass transport.

"Micro" electric cars might offer some advantages but are still vehicle sized. So they are still a waste of space on grid-locked city roads and still need parking places.

Employment and access to shops is the usual reason for city living.
If the work is taken away then the city becomes attractive for crime.
Largely thanks to its high concentration of potential victims.

The human race has tried most forms of village, town and city living without ever achieving a perfect solution.
The larger they grow the more [the desperate] need for transport.

Traffic noise makes life hell for those living near artery roads and for walkers and cyclists.
A network of well separated cycle paths is arguably the best response to usual, very short car journeys to the local takeaway.

If home delivery gets any easier [worse] then lifelong isolation, ill-health, obesity and sloth will become the global norm.
Perhaps Soylent Green really is people, in the end?
At least it would cure global overpopulation.
AGW cured... [eventually.]