I'll leave the Anime to others. But if you want my thoughts on saving the world with green infrastructure, I'd encourage you to imagine a near-term Los Angeles in which a gang of outer space invaders called
Extinction Rebellion -- and a little girl on a sailboat, called Greta -- has infected the already fevered minds of Angelenos with the
slow down meme, having gone viral and having set folks in motion, albeit more slowly.
How It Happened
It was after the arrival of Greta in the late summer of 2019 that a cascade of unforeseeable events resulted in a ragtag gang of disobedient neo-hippies parking themselves at the intersection of LA's Anywhere and Nowhwere, thus blocking traffic -- which was their aim. Everyone had little hand held communication devices which sent signals of the event, and so all the other neo-hippies showed up with bicycles and couches, lounge chairs and musical instruments. There were too many for the police to hit with shock and awe flash bang grenades and tear gas without looking bad, especially given how cute Greta is. Greta was the instigator. But by now she was world famous for raising her middle finger at fossil fuels, and there was nothing to stop what was coming. The biggest party ever seen began then and there at that very intersection. It was bigger than Woodstock! No one went to work that week, with everyone pretending to be sick with the flu or some other routine illness. And it just grew and grew -- with everyone signaling their willingness to go with Greta's outrageous plan for Los Angeles, the worst offender in the entire history of carmageddon (carpocolypse?) Folks weren't sure what to call the horrific invasion of the automobile which rendered Los Angeles among the most ugly places on Earth. They debated the issue briefly on their little communication devices, but the music was so good that they gave up on it soon enough. Who cares? they asked.
Greta said it should be a weeklong party which blocked traffic everywhere in LA, and so it was. People would have music and dancing and parties everywhere. And everywhere the blocked traffic--, overwhelming the "authorities" 500 to 1. Helicopters drifted hopelessly above, but nothing could be done to rein in the vast mob of disobedient Rebels.
After a week of LA being on the front page of every newspaper and leading the news world wide, the Rebellion / Party decided to convene citizens assemblies … and the authorities had no choice but to go along. The assemblies all decided that LA would implement an immediate Phase Out of automobiles, replacing them with bicycles and ultra-light electric vehicles (UEV) -- each being slow, very lightweight, and small. The UEV and bicycles replaced all of the SUVs, both internal combustion and electric. (Many built their own UEVs, using plans found freely on the internet which utilized components purchasable "off the shelf". They were inexpensive and easy to make.) All traffic moved at the pace of a bicycle. It was called "the Slow Revolution". Bicyclists were were beside themselves with glee. Parties erupted everywhere, every night, to celebrate. And that's how the murderous car culture was finally killed at three minutes to midnight.
