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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

We jam econo

Rollins:
Did you see the run of ads for the Hummer where the pretty lady with the smirk on her face drives alone in this monstrous 17 foot vehicle? Is she a soldier in Iraq fighting the War on Terror? Is this the vehicle she needs to navigate her way through the twists and turns of her everyday life?
Did you see the ad for the newer, smaller Hummer where the short guy walks into the board room where the honchos are having a meeting about what to do about their useless gas draining fucked up urban assault vehicle and suggests they make it smaller? That’s like smoking a shorter cigarette. When even the President of the United States now recognizes that America is addicted to oil, can’t General Motors show some backbone, exercise some responsibility and just stop making these vehicles and lead the way in creating means of transportation that are more in line with what’s happening and where things are going? That oil is in an ever diminishing resource and perhaps it’s time to address the situation instead of just starting fake wars in oil rich regions? Isn’t it time for the powers that be to show more responsibility and vision rather than just caving in to stock holders and their portfolios? Whenever I see someone driving a Hummer I just think of the lady in the ad and the smirk on her face that says, “Because I can, motherfucker.” As tax paying residents, we are held to a fairly high level of accountability. When we can’t pay for something, we pay more. We lose our houses, our credit goes spiraling out of control. When we don’t deliver at the workplace, we get fired. Bad things can happen to us if we don’t tell the truth. When the big guys make bad decisions, we are often left holding the bag. Big corporations make me feel small. Their almighty power makes me feel powerless and their often appalling lack of responsibility accountability makes me think my country is getting sold out by a bunch of paunchy power suited pussies. It sucks. Perhaps accountability has to come from the ground up. If we stop buying these vehicles, the stockholders will howl and the industry will have to change. I have noticed a lot of times if you talk about that kind of civically rooted personal accountability, someone will tell you you’re only trying to be PC and to get real. With Unocal almost selling out to China and the President wanting to turn over American border security to the UAE, I think things are real enough. Every company has one basic goal: supply the demand. Maybe it’s time to demand something else. So the next time you’re driving your Hummer from your driveway to the shopping mall, think about what it takes to fill your gas tank and push all those tons down the street and who’s really paying for it and wipe that smirk off your face.

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