black history/futures: ending the oil addiction
20 Feb 2024“no, it was MY uncle’s idea!” almita stomped her foot, crossed her arms, and pouted.
her two friends stood facing her, glaring. of the three, she was by far the most imaginative and the most stubborn. they knew that if she got tipped any further, they’d be getting the silent treatment for the rest of the day, at least. but they also knew she was wrong and she knew it.
the three were fighting over which of their uncles came up with the tactic that had dropped driving by 70% in under a year: screaming gasoline.
it was a brilliant tactic, really. and it was heralded by direct action designers the world over. it was a simple idea, in theory. the beauty was in the execution.
the challenge? to stop people from driving so much, especially when they themselves knew they wanted to drive less. for people who wanted to drive the same amount or more, nothing was needed. but the fact that where were some people were wanting to drive less made the extremism of the tactic viable.
the solution? insert a chemical compound into every gas station pump tank that, when burned alongside gasoline, emitted a very mild but persistent hissing sound that, to the typical human ear, sounded like a distant scream…
words / writing / post-processing
181w / ?min / 2min