You have come a long way, baby
Ever
since I moved here, I have been three times in a situation where I, as
a pedestrian, was in a serious danger of being hit by a car with a
reckless driver so that had my attention been at that moment directed
elsewhere, I would have been seriously hurt or dead. Every single time,
it was an SUV. Of course, this must only be a coincidence and it would
be bad and wrong for me to generalize anything from this.
The first time I was almost hit, a giant SUV zoomed through a crossing turning towards me without even slowing down the whole time. I caught a glimpse of the almost comically small woman who was driving this tank, oblivious to even looking at where she was going. She won't get hurt in her big SUV even if she hits something, right? The SUV manufacturers and marketers know perfectly well that women love SUV's, because these automobiles make these gaswasterettes feel like strong independent women when they get to sit high above traffic. Yet another reason why I hate feminism.
Speaking of generalizations and stereotypes, when I was new to internet in the early nineties, I once stumbled upon some neo-nazi site. There I read a fictional story, some kind of a subtle satire, about a "social scientist" who explains the narrator that it is wrong to be prejudiced against piranhas simply because they are different and some of them are bad, so you should swim with them like you would swim with other animals. I wonder what made me remember and think about that particular story while I was walking to work today, well after over a decade. I really don't know. No reason, I guess.
On the way to work, I also walked past the ROM extension that is currently being built. Only the iron framework skeleton is up and there doesn't seem to be one straight angle in it, so it's easy to see already what a gigantic piece of shit the whole building is going to be. When it is finished, I am sure it will end up as the Eyesore of the Month. Toronto already sports one member in that list, the building that houses Ontario College of Art & Design. It is the eyesore of November 2003. Holy Batman, I know where The Riddler is hiding.
The first time I was almost hit, a giant SUV zoomed through a crossing turning towards me without even slowing down the whole time. I caught a glimpse of the almost comically small woman who was driving this tank, oblivious to even looking at where she was going. She won't get hurt in her big SUV even if she hits something, right? The SUV manufacturers and marketers know perfectly well that women love SUV's, because these automobiles make these gaswasterettes feel like strong independent women when they get to sit high above traffic. Yet another reason why I hate feminism.
Speaking of generalizations and stereotypes, when I was new to internet in the early nineties, I once stumbled upon some neo-nazi site. There I read a fictional story, some kind of a subtle satire, about a "social scientist" who explains the narrator that it is wrong to be prejudiced against piranhas simply because they are different and some of them are bad, so you should swim with them like you would swim with other animals. I wonder what made me remember and think about that particular story while I was walking to work today, well after over a decade. I really don't know. No reason, I guess.
On the way to work, I also walked past the ROM extension that is currently being built. Only the iron framework skeleton is up and there doesn't seem to be one straight angle in it, so it's easy to see already what a gigantic piece of shit the whole building is going to be. When it is finished, I am sure it will end up as the Eyesore of the Month. Toronto already sports one member in that list, the building that houses Ontario College of Art & Design. It is the eyesore of November 2003. Holy Batman, I know where The Riddler is hiding.
I don't know if you're aware, but SUVs are so common in the United States because of fuel economy regulations. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, few people owned SUVs (I don't think that was even a common term back then). The people that owned that had a true need for that type of vehicle: ranchers, farmers, people that lived in remote areas and needed four wheel drive, etc. Suburban families owned station wagons, often with faux wood paneling on the side (although these vehicles were not as ugly as the Family Truckster portrayed in National Lampoon's Vacation).
At some point, the US Government tightened restrictions on car fuel economy: the CAFE standards mandated that the average fuel economy of a manufacturer's sales hit a certain number, so if they sold cars with low MPG, they had to sell other cars with higher MPG.
SUVs were, however, not subject to these strict requirements (there are CAFE standards, but they are much more generous), since they were light trucks. Manufacturers therefore started churning out more SUVs and fewer station wagons.
Then there was the whole issue of allowing SUVs weighing over 6,000 pounds to be classified as business equipment in the tax code, which allowed businesses and independent businesspeople to write off the cost in the first year under an accelerated depreciation scheme (in the US, self-employment is not unheard of, and certain professions such as dentists have a large number of self-employed people).
Posted by George Regnery | 10:33 AM
Yep, I'm aware of those issues. I have read the book "High and Mighty" that explained the whole thing, but I was aware of the main issues earlier.
Fortunately SUV's are nowhere as common here as I understand they are in States.
By the way, I remember once years ago joking around that if we ever get a car, we should buy a car with wood side paneling. My wife wasn't very enthusiastic about that idea.
Posted by Ilkka | 3:49 PM