My high school friends and I often had cars that weren’t 100% reliable.
We knew how to gather 2-3 guys, push a car, and “pop the clutch” to get it started. In a pinch you could even do it alone – push the car to get it rolling, jump in, pop the clutch, and with a bit of luck, off you went.
Good times.
I recently saw a YouTube video of some people executing this ancient “pop the clutch” ritual, except of course these idiots tried to make it entertaining. By pulling rather than pushing, they managed to be in front of the car when it lurched forward.
I suppose my buddies and I could have pulled the car, but there’s not much question that pushing was easier and more efficient. And a whole bunch safer.
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Neither method scales. Pushing or pulling even 2 or 3 cars isn’t really practical, so what if you want to get 10, or 50, or 100 cars going in the same direction?
No way to accomplish that by pushing or pulling.
The best way – perhaps the only way – to get a big group of people going in the same direction is to get in front and convince them to follow.