I like this sentiment the most. I worked in the oil and gas industry for a long time. (Ethically opposed the entire time, but thats not my point here.) And drove a subaru, worked with guy that drove a prius. Lots of Honda and Toyota sedans… the people doing the “manly” work aren’t even driving big personal vehicles because there is nothing to prove.
This is a funny part about being a carpenter. The new carpenters buy huge trucks to try and impress people. Meanwhile my boss who has been doing this for decades drives a Honda Civic to work lol
The poor person about to spend $100k+ on a truck, tearfully signing the papers at the dealership: sniffle And could you do that thing where you raise the truck up a few more feet and put monster truck wheels on it? I can’t believe you are making me do this.
lol This is exactly how some people picture it. Poor Americans. In hypercapitalist America, consumers just have no agency at all. Maybe your culture really is gullible and stupid?
Not sure why you’re being downvoted, but judging by the replies it seems like everyone is assuming that by “people have no choice but to buy a personally-owned vehicle” you must have meant “people have no choice but to buy a giant gas-guzzling truck.”
It’s a crazy leap and a strawman and precisely the kind of lack of nuance that makes it all but impossible to have intelligent discussions about issues that matter. But then again, this is the internet…
I was specifically talking about gigantic gas guzzlers in my original comment. Not even in the US do all cars fall into that category. People do have choices and they choose the monstrosities. I was not in any way trying to blame people for owning a car.
Okay I get it, I was reading the comment in light of the post which talked about “mandatory expensive vehicle in order to be employable because we abandoned trains.”
Like, you’re right, nobody needs those giant trucks.
But also, even relying on smaller, more efficient POVs as a society is still a bad thing, and being required to buy something in that category is still an injustice that individual people don’t have much agency in, at least if they want to be able to get a job without uprooting their lives (and usually living somewhere more expensive in order to have pedestrian access to public transit)
Yeah I mean I’m down with making fun of truck owners. Just not with blaming individual drivers for systemic urban planning issues that were deliberately ratfucked by industry to begin with
I mean, given the comment the reply is to it’s not a crazy leap in logic or strawman considering the comment itself specifically was talking about gas guzzling vehicles and not having sympathy for people who bought them.
Perhaps as a reply to the original post it would be read differently but the context it’s in makes it so it reads the way it does.
Ah, yeah, I read it as if it were a top-level comment. I see the connection now.
I’ll still give her the benefit of the doubt and say she likely meant it in the broader sense, because her takes are usually fairly reasonable.
But yeah, the giant trucks are unnecessary in probably 98% of cases. Honestly even in the 2% where one is needed, a smaller one will do. But those are harder to find these days.
The problem of compulsory POV ownership more broadly though is systemic in the US, and people trapped in that situation don’t really have an alternative option.
Yes, it’s the victim’s faults! They had no choice but to buy these things thanks to lack of alternatives , therefore they are to blame!
The Hyundai Venue is $20k and can get 50mpg highway.
People have a choice of what vehicle they buy.
But how is that going to help with your petromasculinity?
I like this sentiment the most. I worked in the oil and gas industry for a long time. (Ethically opposed the entire time, but thats not my point here.) And drove a subaru, worked with guy that drove a prius. Lots of Honda and Toyota sedans… the people doing the “manly” work aren’t even driving big personal vehicles because there is nothing to prove.
This is a funny part about being a carpenter. The new carpenters buy huge trucks to try and impress people. Meanwhile my boss who has been doing this for decades drives a Honda Civic to work lol
And abuse victims have the choice of leaving their abuser.
What a monumentally stupid comparison.
The poor person about to spend $100k+ on a truck, tearfully signing the papers at the dealership: sniffle And could you do that thing where you raise the truck up a few more feet and put monster truck wheels on it? I can’t believe you are making me do this.
lol This is exactly how some people picture it. Poor Americans. In hypercapitalist America, consumers just have no agency at all. Maybe your culture really is gullible and stupid?
Aw, those poor people had no choice but to buy that F-150!
The other guys at the construction site will make fun of them if they aren’t in six-figure debt for a truck that never tows or hauls anything!
The guy who buys a luxury RAM 1500 to pick up groceries definitely had alternatives.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted, but judging by the replies it seems like everyone is assuming that by “people have no choice but to buy a personally-owned vehicle” you must have meant “people have no choice but to buy a giant gas-guzzling truck.”
It’s a crazy leap and a strawman and precisely the kind of lack of nuance that makes it all but impossible to have intelligent discussions about issues that matter. But then again, this is the internet…
I was specifically talking about gigantic gas guzzlers in my original comment. Not even in the US do all cars fall into that category. People do have choices and they choose the monstrosities. I was not in any way trying to blame people for owning a car.
Okay I get it, I was reading the comment in light of the post which talked about “mandatory expensive vehicle in order to be employable because we abandoned trains.”
Like, you’re right, nobody needs those giant trucks.
But also, even relying on smaller, more efficient POVs as a society is still a bad thing, and being required to buy something in that category is still an injustice that individual people don’t have much agency in, at least if they want to be able to get a job without uprooting their lives (and usually living somewhere more expensive in order to have pedestrian access to public transit)
No argument there. I was just pointing out that people do have choices and unfortunately many people make dumb choices.
Yeah I mean I’m down with making fun of truck owners. Just not with blaming individual drivers for systemic urban planning issues that were deliberately ratfucked by industry to begin with
Yeah you can always just buy a civic
I mean, given the comment the reply is to it’s not a crazy leap in logic or strawman considering the comment itself specifically was talking about gas guzzling vehicles and not having sympathy for people who bought them.
Perhaps as a reply to the original post it would be read differently but the context it’s in makes it so it reads the way it does.
Ah, yeah, I read it as if it were a top-level comment. I see the connection now.
I’ll still give her the benefit of the doubt and say she likely meant it in the broader sense, because her takes are usually fairly reasonable.
But yeah, the giant trucks are unnecessary in probably 98% of cases. Honestly even in the 2% where one is needed, a smaller one will do. But those are harder to find these days.
The problem of compulsory POV ownership more broadly though is systemic in the US, and people trapped in that situation don’t really have an alternative option.