Atom FeedThe Detroit Project
OK, so I caught a brief blurb a couple of days ago on the news about some group linking SUV’s to terrorism. I found it amusing because what the heck, everything that wants action or funding gets linked to terrorism and national security in these post 9/11 days. I think most of that is complete crap, but that is another story. So last night on Fox News I saw Arianna Huffington talking about something called The Detroit Project.I don’t really know anything about Arianna but I did recognize the name. (I’ve since learned she’s a "columnist"…whatever.) She came up with the idea to bring awareness to the notion that driving an SUV supports terrorism. This was inspired by the government’s ads that have been flooding the airwaves linking drug use to terrorism. Whether you subscribe to either of these theories is not of interest to me. But I do support her efforts in anthing that bring attention to the rediculous love affair the U.S. has with SUV’s. How many people really need these gas guzzling, four wheel drive behemoths? About 5% of them actually ever get driven off-road, which is what there were originally designed to do. Instead they fill the suburban roadways and garages of middle and upper-middle class homes across the nation.
As an American it is your right to choose to drive and SUV. But you really shouldn’t complain about what it costs to fill it with gas. Ever! Why? It was your choice to drive this gas guzzling beast. No one forced you into it. Frankly I don’t understand why most people make this decision, but it is your choice. Personally, I drive a quite fuel efficient 1998 Honda Civic. But of course this makes me a bad American because I drive a Japanese car. This may be true, but I’ve owned several American cars and for the most part I feel they are an inferior product in most cases. This is discussion unto itself, but it should be noted that my "family car" is a 1997 Ford Escort.
My first point in this rambling is that most people probably could get by without an SUV. Secondly, if the government would put half the effort into developing alternative energy sources that puts into protecting the oil companies, we’d all be a hell of a lot better off. Would we have such an interest in "protecting" the good people of Kuwait or other middle eastern countries? Is the current fear of Iraq largely their threat to our security? Probably. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the vast oil reserves that sit underneath it. January 9, 2003 @ 08:58 am | Category: Brainwork
