Although I agree with everything you write here, I think part of the problem is the level of desperation in the US.

You are in Melbourne. I'm in Vienna. We've got socialized medicine, living minimum wages/salaries, sensible gun laws, pensions, unemployment, etc. 80% of the US doesn't have this - and that is where most of your readers are.

A huge percentage of the US population understands that if they make one mistake, miss one pament, miss one "exit" and they may well spend the rest of their shortened and painful lives living under a bridge and begging for food. They transfer this personal - and VERY real fear of disaster - onto what we can achieve as socieites.

I have no expertise or experience on how to convince people that "just driving" as a society is different than at a personal level. I hope someone cleverer than me does!