God Gave Me This Vehicle
Comments: 7
The International Herald Tribune has an article cribbed from The New York Times on SUV owners (weak, selfish people) fighting the backlash against their inefficient, dangerous, socially irresponsible vehicles.
SUV road warriors fight backlash
Patricia Leigh Brown/NYTThe SUV embodies many ironies in the culture, as a vehicle marketed for its rugged independence that nevertheless has serious social costs, from smog to rollovers, said Sarah Jain, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Stanford University. “It represents the inability of Americans to make a connection between consumption decisions and their social impact,” said Jain, who teaches a course on car culture.
The best line in the article provides a creepy glimpse at a warped mind-set that seems to have become a bedrock value of American thinking:
Among the moms is Sharrel Grootboom, 45, a nursing assistant in Oakland who was loading up her LandRover with groceries the other day. She has four children, sings in a choir and frequently plays gospel music in the car.
What would Jesus drive? “There’s nothing religious about SUVs,” she said. “God gave me this vehicle. I love my vehicle.”
God give me strength is all I ask!
Elsewhere in the article drivers make the connection between SUV ownership and self-protection — armouring oneself and one’s family against a world that is a “harder and more violent place to live.” This delusion embraces the basest and narrowest concept of self-preservation and blissfully ignores the grand irony that inefficiency, selfishness and unfettered consumption are among the contributing factors to the world’s becoming a harder and more violent place.
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Posted to General Rants • 2003.02.08 (Sat) • 12:01
Comments
Posted by Nick 2003.02.08, 17:23
Man, I guess I should get an SUV to protect me from the “harder and more violent place to live” that is upper-class suburbs. Not only will I be safe from the normal-size car coming at me as I speed through the red light, I’ll also be safe from crime! What?
I have a very personal attatchment to the SUV issue, as I deliver pizzas in an upper-class suburb, where everyone either drives an SUV or a Volvo, which as far as my safety is concerned is just as bad. People who feel invincible in their cars (as do SUV and Volvo drivers) will obviously drive more recklessly, since they of course won’t be hurt, and the stereotype I apply to most of those drivers is that they don’t really care if someone else gets hurt. What’s really important is the phone conversation they’re occupied with.
Arrgh. Damn white people. Or something.
Posted by tomas 2003.02.08, 21:58
Nick: Uh, what’s wrong with Volvos? You think Volvo should consciously make their cars seem more unsafe?
Posted by ~bc 2003.02.09, 00:19
Nick, Volvos are actually engineered to accomodate those who are hit by Volvos, as well as those inside the car. In fact, if you were to be hit by a car, you should pray it’s a Saab or Volvo. Pick up a used one to protect yourself if you’re feeling overwhelmed. They last forever, so you might be able to get a good deal on one over 200k mi. I did.
Posted by Mary Beth 2003.02.09, 01:25
I’m thinking of getting a sign printed up with big letters saying - could YOU see MY EYES???? I’m so tired of trying to pull out of parking spaces surrounded by these behemoths and then another one comes blasting up, slams on their brakes and gets all pouty because I’m in their way. Hello - could you see my EYES? because if you can’t see my eyes, I probably couldn’t see yours! Let’s be simpler - I COULDN”T SEE YOU. YOU on the other hand COULD SEE MY BACK BUMPER starting to pull out. Surely you got brakes with that thing.
oh. Sorry. I think it’s time for my meds again.
Working in the mall, all I can tell you is that the only off-roading going on is off the main interstate and onto mall parking lot, the last great open space.
I’m not bitter. Silly twits.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens 2003.02.09, 08:01
Maybe you’ve heard of The Detroit Project and its recent ads that link SUVs and terrorism (a parody of Bush’s ads that link illegal drug use and terrorism).
I can’t begin to tell you how much I (a Miata driver) hate SUVs. Not only am I six times as likely to die as the SUV driver if one of them hits me, but in insulating themselves against the outside world, they’ve grown oblivious to it. And they always seem to drive while talking on their damn cell phones.
Ah. I’m dreaming of the day that gas prices in the US catch up with the rest of the world.
Posted by Richard 2003.02.11, 02:22
That God line made me laugh as well when I read the article in the Herald-Tribune. I think the devil gave me my car. ;-)
Posted by Pete 2003.02.11, 20:35
i’m british and i drive a Land Rover. There, I’ve said it. Time for a group hug and a ‘friend’ to help along the 12 steps to enlightenment? I don’t think so. Maybe the British definition of the type of vehicle you are ranting about is different to the US version (after all, we don’t have any 4x4 on the market that could be described as a ‘truck’ - nor anything as huge as some of the ‘suv’s’ i see advertised in mag’s like ‘Outside’) but still resent the vitriolic attitudes being directed at me (personally or not) simply because of the car I drive.
We are entering a period of human history that is marred by a lack of tolerance and understanding leading to unneccesary conflict and confusion. The kind of comments I have read above (and other places) so totally remind me of articles I have read about the way blacks and gays were treated not so many years ago. A complete lack of understanding (or willingness to understand) leading to… well, you all know about the things these ‘minorities’ have had to face from others.
You all ridicule the (admitedly sorry) excuses that people have given for driving these vehicles - but maybe these people are just bemused by this seemingly sudden and aggressive attitude to them because of their car? Maybe there is room for discussion and education instead? there will always be those who do not want to be educated - well, that’s life (all walks of life).
Mary Beth said above, “I’m not bitter. Silly twits.” - Well thanks for that. Maybe I am a twit. Maybe not. But thanks for taking the time to find out… Oh no, that’s right you didn’t did you?
You simply issue a throw-away statement that generalises and offends. All I can say is thank god I’m not a black, gay, suv driving muslim. I can imagine the bounty you would all put on my head then. Or is it just acceptable to bash suv drivers and not blacks and gays these days?
And, like I said above, I drive a Land Rover. It is NOT an SUV. I do however, drive it to the Alps a lot (I climb mountains - can I be persecuted for that?) and it carries 7 people and all the equipment and luggage. And, without any means of testing it, I’m pretty sure that the emmissions from such a journey are much less that the equivilant per-head emmissions from a jet heading to the same place (+ bus transport at either end etc).
Anyway, sorry to upset the lack of balance in the comments here - this is a really good blog btw - but there are always two sides to a story - always - whether you like it or not…
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