We went far enough with religion. We went too far and now we traspassed where we shouldn't have. Once religion was a tool for people to heal their spirit and do good following the preaching written in their books. Fast forward many centuries in an era of instant communication and commerce: religion is now the tool hate and division among people.

If religion is about peace and understanding, why do people use bullets and torture to spread it? They do because religion is a medium of fear and terror. Fear and terror are the best ways to control large crowds especially if they are second and third world countries. This is the same way Americans were controlled in a swirl of spiritual politic during the George W. Bush administration from 2000 to 2008. Yellow alert, orange alert, red alert, etc. Especially that republican administration used religion as a medium to blend perfectly in all those US citizens who are religious and weren't so sure about their president.

What was left over was a minority of smart republicans and atheists that didn't buy the Bush Jr doctrine and were labeled anti-American and also terrorist. I believe there's nothing worse than being segregated by your own people on spiritual or political grounds.

Nobody criticize if you are a believer in any particular religion, but rather how you do it. If Catholicism and Islam are faith based religion and through words and readings they are spread, then why the physical aggression towards their own people and other who view the world differently from them? We can simply answer this question saying that religious people are indoctrinated in worshiping one entity granting absolute obedience disregarding the rest of the people, included those in their religion.

It is a matter of individualism and not an altruistic status-quo. Religion is about committing a sin that involved a personal desire and confessing it, then to repeat the cycle until death. Do you think the spread of the good and the wealth to those in need is the basis of religion? Absolutely no! It's just a one-to-one with your god and a “fuck you!” to those around you, otherwise we wouldn't be in a situation where Catholicism priest rape children and Islam stones and lashes people to death for petty crimes. It's really that simple: religions today are more harmful than dangerous politicians and dictators.

Vehicles for the future: beyond the old design

Many have designed new project to reinvent the daily mean of transportation which is the car that we drive everywhere. Few succeeded and many failed, but not because of mistakes in the design project, simply because people are not ready for changes, especially when we deal with our life style.

We certainly need an evolution in transportation for two motives: first the massive amount of traffic and time we spend sitting in while driving; second the pollution that is eating our planet away. Oddly enough both of these problems seem to interest little or nothing to our politicians who are embedded in promising us the very next thing after the next thing, running on treadmills believing they are delivering.

Some projects to evolve the car are quite amazing and have been proposed without success each year to several  auto shows around the planet, from Tokyo to Ginevra to Detroit. The lack of success is to be blamed almost entirely on us and on our failure to change for the common good. How nice would it be if we could drive electric cars without being worried about pollution and gas prices? 

I searched some prototypes with interesting features that many might not like, but they are worth their artistic ad design appeal because they are achievement towards our real need for a more efficient car.

Below is the Ford 021C concept by Marc Newson shown at the Tokyo auto show in 1999. The car was design to be a cornerstone towards the new millennium in car design. With the body made of carbon fiber this Ford was design to be practical and with very few decoration to propose something radical to the public, but unfortunately it remained only a project. It can be the design of the future simply because it's more than a city car. Yes Smart is a nice and compact car, but this allows you to have twice the people and the cargo, plus it got nice colors.

Another amazing car concept entirely designed by a team of women from Volvo delivered the YCC (Your Car Concept), a 2004 idea. This model is similar to the current C30 hatchback model already available. During the Ginevra Autoshow this car got praised for the unique design filled with details and original patterns that only a woman can deliver. It is practical and sporty at the same time, it will mostly appeal to a young and adult crowd.

Another vehicle that has an useful design is what the French car maker Renault produced the Avantime from 2001 to 2003 with an original design typical of Europe. The advantage of having a car like this is the compromise of cargo space, seating comfort and design; rather than have a full size minivan that are OK to travel with but a pain to park. Sadly it was too ahead of its time and people did't receive the original design as Renault hoped, mostly because of the high price and the big gasoline engine that is not a plus, especially in a period of very high gas prices and inflation. Maybe this car can be re proposed in a near future as the design is now more similar to todays European models. 

New Lamborghini concept Navarra

Last time I blogged about Lamborghini a totally new concept of sport car came out. It was the Ankonian. The Italian automaker had a new project realized by the designer Adan Denning of a possible V12 flagship super car called Navarra.  There are no press release on this prototype but it looks like a possible evolution of the current Murcielago car, the shark-nose front is becoming a design legacy that has been portrayed in several other projects.

Image source: carbodydesign.com