You are reading a single comment by @gbj_tester and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
commercial imperatives dictate that we should always try to get people to spend more
Obviously that's the purpose of corporations, but it's odd to conclude that such Marxist outlets as the BBC and Grauniad are involved in some conspiracy with the cycle industry. Simple stupidity is a sufficient and far more likely explanation for their position on this question.
gbj_tester
Whether deliberately or not, the press for the most part propagates popular prejudice against cycling, aided by a general lack of cycling skill in the population. Cycling's main crime is that it isn't economically relevant. It is a low-risk activity that is very good at fulfilling people's needs without costing them much (except for the small minority of expensive kit junkies), and that keeps people healthier so they even spend less on healthcare. However, commercial imperatives dictate that we should always try to get people to spend more, that manufacturers build in obsolescence, etc., and that, really, people ought to be discouraged from cycling, and if they insist to still do it despite all the fearmongering designed to put them off, additional manufactured needs are generated for them so they have to spend more money.