The Top 10 Reasons SUV’s aren’t so cool anymore.
By Jerry Stifelman, Carrboro, NC
10. Global Warming. (The average SUV emits nearly double the amount of CO2 as a Ford Taurus)
9. THEY INCREASE AMERICA’S DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUELS. So we end up kissing up to oppressive regimes in the Middle East and now Central Asia.
8. THEY MAKE US FORGET WHAT AMERICAN’S ALL ABOUT. By insisting on driving gas-guzzling SUV’s, we’re letting other countries get way ahead of us in terms of innovative ways to power vehicles.
7. UNLESS YOU REALLY USE YOUR SUV TO GO THUMPING UP MOUNTAINS, IT LOOKS SILLY. Like wearing an outdoor vest, hiking shorts and a poncho to the movies.
6. THEY’VE BECOME THE YUPPIE VEHICLE OF CHOICE. (And no one wants to be a yuppie, not even yuppies.)
5. THEY’RE NOT VERY NIMBLE. If an SUV were a football player, it would be an overweight offensive lineman. Wouldn’t you rather drive a running back?
4. THEY PLAY INTO THE BAD THINGS PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT US. They say Americans are selfish and pampered. And a whole lot of us are driving gas-guzzling, CO2-emitting, oversized 4WD vehicles to buy mocha lattes and go to the mall.
3. THEY ROLL OVER. Go ahead, make a really sharp turn - dare you.
2. WHAT WOULD JESUS DRIVE?
1. OSAMA BIN LADEN DRIVES AN SUV.
DRIVE LESS. DRIVE SMALLER. LIVE MORE.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:18 am
Good stuff!
If you think about it, it’s pretty sad where American consumerism has taken us. It’s like finding a good deal on a case of imported Chinese toothpaste at a flea market.
Feel free to scribble that one down on your list of bad ideas. It amazes me that we a) manufacture products that are knowingly harmful to the environment including its inhabitants and that b) consumers buy them.
SUVS accelerate the destruction of our planet. With the help of SUVS we have the ability to ruin the earth in half the time it would have taken us with just regular, run of the mill, gas eating, earth warming cars.
SUVS are one example, but the list goes on and on. From cigarettes to Big Macs there exists a seemingly endless list of products to add to the bad idea list. I don’t know if it’s arrogance, ignorance, or something else but there doesn’t seem to be much logic in it to me.
What is it about our culture that says I know this Big Mac is bad for me but I’m going to eat it anyway? I know it’s going to make a contribution to the general decline of my health but what does that matter? Heart disease, blood pressure, obesity…these have become everyday health problems for Americans. When did elevated liver enzymes become an everyday health issue?
The part skeptic in me says maybe advances in medical technology are revealing issues that people have been living with for years. The other part of me says we are a culture of overconfident self serving sanctimonious foolhardy pieces of crap that take health, life, and all the blessings in between for granted.
Did this happen overnight or is it our human nature to progress as such? Have we always neglected our health and our planted at the expense of making a dollar? Corporations and consumers alike have made the decision that superfluous creature comforts and making a dollar are more worthy objectives than a healthy life. And I don’t think it stops at physical health. I think our mental health and our spiritual health pay the same toll.
I’m very patriotic and proud to be an American. However, I’m not impressed by the direction of our culture. I have distaste for the general decline of our society. Like Jerry said, by driving SUVS we are rolling over onto our backs like a scared dog to the innovation of other countries. This is not a progressive society! We are not promoting meaningful, healthy advancement of our culture. Our technology developments are more about mortgaging the livelihood of future earth dwelling inhabitants and making a buck than working to improve the lives we live in. This isn’t the legacy I want my name associated with.
The way I see it, we’re failing and there’s no excuse. We can put astronauts on the moon (all conspiracy theory’s aside)! We can put music onto an I-pod! Maybe that fact is lost on some people. Think of the progression that requires. First, the music has to come from somewhere. Artists take there manufactured instruments and use them to make noise that is appealing to them. They sing into a microphone and their voice is captured and recorded. The noise they’ve produced is converted into a digital file. That means the strums and hums and do-dahs and whatever else that goes into their song is stored as a series of electrons onto a hard drive. We can then take this storage equipment, slip it into our pocket and call it an ipod.
I maybe a bit of an idealist but if we can use our advancements, technology, and innovation to devise such a device, can’t we build a world that’s centered in building and promoting our health? Can’t we use our knowledge to build a better place rather than using it to destroy the place we live? It’s not hard! I’ll say it again. It’s not hard! The hardest part is being willing to make a change. This is what a progressive society does. Yes we’ve done things a certain way for a long time but we realize there is a better way to do things now. When the American people get on board with the idea that we have to start protecting our planet and improving our environment, the scientists, engineers, and manufacturers and all businesses alike will expend their resources in providing the consumer with the products they want: Microeconomics 101. We have the ability in technology and innovation. The only reason alternative fuel vehicles don’t exist is because the oil company’s don’t own alternative fuels!
A change can happen. And it will happen if WE the people will it to be so. But if we continue to be a society that prefers the taste of a big mac, over our own well-being we will pay the consequences. Poor diet leads to health problems. This is proven. We don’t have to wait to see what the lesson learned is. We know that poor diet can result in, among other things, heart disease, diabetes, or even cancer. If we care about the big mac and not our well being in the first place, I guess we don’t too much care about the lesson anyway because we won’t be around to see it.
I believe we have the ability to build and enjoy all the luxury’s we can imagine and can do so without making a negative impact on the earth. This may one day include SUV’s and Big Macs but not as we know them. Consumerism has to drive the market this direction. We have to demand that our way of life is about protecting and promoting the planet. We have to demand that our society act as good stewards towards our resources. When that happens, the green catch phrase will disappear and it just becomes a way of life. It’s not about peace loving, pot smoking, tree hugging hippies (It’s just that the hippies have a head start on the rest of the world). It’s about changing our focus and our priorities to protect what I believe to be a God given planet.