Tue 25 Sep 2007
Cars suck. Yet, we are still a society of car lovers. Why do so many people love and hopelessly cling to this inefficient form of transportation? From behavioral studies conducted through observation by yours truly the following are the most common reasons.
Cars are big. They allow the less endowed segment of society a way to show their manliness and/or rank. People who love their cars for said reason are easy to identify. They drive big ass trucks that cost a fortune. Four-wheel drive is mandatory but so are low profile tires that make the four-wheel drive useless. The bigger and less utilitarian their automobile is the higher their social status and the smaller their package.
Cars go fast. This reason is demonstrated by a certain type of driver. They are those who have no where to go but have to get there within the next two seconds or their world will come to an end, literally. I’m not sure how these people get anything done. They are always in such a hurry to get somewhere that once they arrive, they hurry to get back to wherever the hell they came from.
Cars carry stuff. Now, we all know that a BOB trailer can carry a lot of shit, trust me I’ve tested its limits, but a car can carry more. This is one of the few times I see the necessity of an automobile, but this reason loses its merit when the only thing being carried is a 50 pound gut, which could be eliminated if a car wasn’t used to transport it.
Cars keep the bugs out of your teeth. Ah, something we can all stand behind, but who doesn’t love a few bugs in the morning. You can hardly consider eating bugs unethical if they ran into your face. I say splatted bug protein is the other white meat.
Cars are efficient. A reason with teeth but there is a problem here. They are not efficient. In terms of known forms of transportation, cars are one of the least efficient. If you consider how much a car weighs, a couple thousand pounds, and compare that to what it carries, usually one person around 200 pounds, how is that efficient? To think you need something multiple times bigger than you are to carry your sorry ass lacks logic.
Cars suck. After studying these five most common reasons to drive, I still can’t understand our desperate association with automobiles. They will be the death of us all. At least when things get bad those with cars can park in their garage and close the door. It will make the end easier.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
When you come pick me up for Interbike, will you be in your car or on your bike?
September 27th, 2007 at 2:18 am
There is 33,000 calories in a gallon of gasoline.
A moderately efficient automobile uses 1,800 calories during combustion to propel it for a distance of one mile.
A cyclist, depending on the rider’s weight and strength, requires around 33 calories to ride one mile.
A large difference there. Take in account the cyclist expels virtually no emissions (except respiration and a little methane!)
Lukas mentioned before that automobiles are one way of expressing one’s wealth indirectly. This is true, and in our society, we are seeing more and more of conspicuous consumption (lavish spending on goods to display one’s wealth).
In this age, it is not about the product, but the how the product can alter one’s image. For instance: automobile commercials.
Remember in the 40s, 50s and 60s when automobile manufactures advertised their cars by the features and specifications of the car? There, posed aggressively on the beach, would be the muscle car of the 1960s while a rogue wave would smash into the side, spraying mist over the car while the narrator would go over its specifications. What ever happened to that?
Now its: “Look at Dave,” while a stupid jingle would play in the background, “he’s in the new VW Passat. All the neighbors are going to want one once he pulls in the driveway.”
When did we strive to invidiously purchase products? And when did the advertisers realize it wasn’t the specifications we care for, but how great one will look in it once purchased, or how the neighbors will gaze, slack-jawed?
By the way, where’s Ryan been? We don’t ride anymore and his website hasn’t been updated for a while.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:20 am
I agree with you Mr lukas. I hadn’t driven a car for 2 weeks tell Mon. and man it was boring, had to go to Cheyenne, 45 min in that coffin. Then I had to deal with traffic once I got to town. Unfortantly I don’t get to ride much my school, work, youth group, and family tie up the schedule. So, I’m getting fat with out driving anywhere.
October 1st, 2007 at 7:30 pm
It’s not my fault that I’m one of those people carrying 200 lbs of extra gut weight and a tuba that requires me to be a slave to my car!