Big People in their Big Big Trucks

Prepare for a rant of biblical proportions.

I've been thinking a good deal lately about American culture as it relates to material consumptions. I often tend to single out my home state of Texas when I think about the problems I see, but honestly the case is pretty similar everywhere I go (allthough my travels have primarily been in the Western half of the U.S.). It's the same case, the best visable example, people driving really unessicarily large vehicles and using ridiculous amounts of gas to power their gigantic hunks of metal as they fly down the freeway at eighty-whatever miles per hour.

The question I ask every time I see a college student driving a Ford Excursion or a Tahoe, or a guy with a pick up track that is so huge and jacked up so high that if it ran over you it would just mess up your hair is.......why...why...I mean, there are a lot of things in life that I do not understand, but this transcends any possibility of me ever understanding...WHY? I mean, there is a compensation factor...the shortest guy that lived in my dorm last year drove the largest truck. The irony was not lost on me...but seriously, where in the world does the money come from for buying an expensive large vehicle, gas for that vehicle, and huge tires and whatever else is needed to give that vehicle more power to kill.

Then there's the amount of energy wasted on all of those extra seats. We have an "oil crisis". Who is really at fault for it? OPEC, terrorists? Nope. It's every good ol' boy, sorority girl, soccer mom or hick that is rushing to car lots across America (many younger people doing so with their parents money) to buy a vehicle that is bigger than the guy's next door. Do you think we would have a gas shortage if the people who didn't need gigantic vehicles bought Honda Accords? Think of how much cheaper gas would be...the difference would be staggering. This alone would cut U.S. gasoline consumption severely. But are people are selfish, so damn selfish, do damn intent on proving something, whatever it is, by owning a gigantic killing machine, not thinking about what this does to the economy or, more importiantly, the environment.

Of course I'm not blind to the fact that for some people these large autos are necessary, or at least serve a very practical purpose. Farmers and ranchers need trucks, however, Joe Suburban White Guy from the suburbs of Houston who attends college in Dallas doesn't...but in spite of that we have thousands of Joe White guys driving around in their 15 m.p.g. trucks with dozens of cubic feet of wasted space and untold gallons of wasted gas. Yeah, my friend Michael's family needed their Chevy Suburban, they had 7 kids. They would spend a lot on gas anyway. However, Jane Suburban White Girl doesn't need to use an entire gallon of gas to drive her freakin Chevy tahoe 10 minutes to school with room for her and six of her invisable friends.

This isin't just an issue of consumption, it's a reflection of a huge American cultural flaw. Americans are too selfish and self centered to think about others, or practicality, or waste, or the environment...people who drive Hummers (something that there is no reason for anyone to own unless you're planning on driving across enemy territory to plant a bomb to blow up an enemy supply line) should be sent 50 years into the future to see the havoc that this over consumption may potentially reek on our planet and mankind...then they should be flogged...okay mabye that's too harsh...I think being forced to drive a Geo for the rest of their lives might be more humane...but just barely.

Mabye that's what these people should do. Instead of plastering their hummers with yellow and flag colored ribbons and pretending to support the troops, mabye they should really support them by excercising their second amendment right to buy whatever massive assualt weapon they choose, ship their hummers over to Iraq, and go after insurgent strongholds. That's what I call supporting the troops. At least their hummers will already have more armor than some of the ones that our soldiers have been using for the past few months.

I have a lot more I could say about this...more complaining I could do. However I'm going to just stop for now and contenue this at another time. Please respond with your comments. If I was too harsh or inflammitory, well, I'm pissed about this, so I'm going to be, until people stop being idiots...allthough that's not something I'm really counting on happening for a while. I'm looking foward to getting my 2 door Honda Civic back from the shop this week and driving it with the satisfaction that, as I drive down the freeway, the guy to the left in his huge truck and the guy to my right in the Hummer are spending three times as much money on gas as I am. But then again, that's probably because they either have way too much money, or their parents don't mind footing the bill.

Can the craze over huge automobiles get any more ridiculious? The answer is found in the link, which can be accessed by clicking on the title of this post. I think it is a good example of what I'm saying.

Enjoy,

- Jordan