i shouldn't have brought up the drunk driving thing, it's just very much in the same vein. i understand your viewpoint, it's just that a line must be drawn somewhere. sparky brought up the common utterance earlier, 'your freedom ends where mine begins,' and i think that's pretty much all that needs to be said. i shouldn't have to worry whether or not someone can judge if they've had too much drinks (and deciding it while possibly drunk, no less). i do not hesitate to profess my hatred for cops, but in this case it's pretty hard to be wrongfully accused; either you failed a sobriety and/or breathalyzer test or you didn't. if you are in good physical health and have not had more than a drink or two, you shouldn't fail either of these.
you don't like irrational mass fear? i'm confused, are you a republican or not? ;P
to me, discussions of 'individual liberty' really go hand in hand with pandering to fear. 'they took/are gonna take our jobs/guns/healthcare(lack thereof, even)/money/whatever.' exclamation point.
no one is making your SUV illegal and forcing you to buy a yaris. you can lose that angle. it's mostly just that people think you're a douche for taking the kids to soccer practice in an APC and driving on the same road with their normal cars. if you can't deal with it, don't buy an SUV.
and to the dude grouping minivans and SUV's to try and get people on his side- quit. most of this forum actually sees a purpose in minivans, i would think. i know i do, they're a good car for a family and are built on car chassises with car engines. for that matter, i don't take much offense to rav4's or their ilk, as they're basically just tall cars.
1) I don't have a SUV. I just provide an argument just like I would for smoking on private property; I don't smoke either. Why do I care?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...
When there are no more SUVs to chase after, cars like my Cobra are next on the list as "excess and needless". There are some people on this forum who would not stop bashing everything until everyone is driving the same smug utilitarian piece of shit they are. SUVs just happen to be the popular target right now.
2) Nope, not a republican either. I just loath gun grabbers, SUV haters, and socialists more than jesus lovers scared of arabs. Things like religion and abortion and gays are always short term and flip flop till the end of time from one administration to the next, but things like gun bans and socialist policies tend not ever face scrutiny again once passed (eg: 1934 gun ban and 1935 social security both still here and impossible to get rid of and both are always reference points for more and more, ie: slippery slope). Something controversial on both sides like the Patriot Act will eventually get overturned or expire. Laws that indirectly prohibit certain types of cars, guns, or more socialism, tend to stick for a very long time until they become the status quo and are impossible to get rid of.
What you don't seem to recognize is that "banning SUVs" isn't going to happen. However we can have things like ever tightening emissions regulations and fuel economy and safety mandates that EFFECTIVELY give rise to an indirect
pseudo ban on anything that isn't a weak ass utilitarian green car that most people don't see coming. Look how the future of cars like the Corvette is being questioned because of the new CAFE rules, for example. Further example, look how many people wish gas prices would be raised to $10 a gal just so they can see people get rid of SUVs; another form of indirect prohibition to force society in a particular direction with something that cannot be outright prohibited.
Think it's a stretch? Well think about this. Machine guns were never actually formally banned or outlawed, just regulated and revised over and over again until you could no longer buy one, even though technically they aren't illegal. That's right, fully automatic weapons are not illegal to privately own in the USA. But go try and get one. This sort of tactic of covertly incrementally prohibiting something without actually banning it, including the crusade to make that something socially unacceptable by bad mouthing it at every corner (eg: these forums are an example), is what we call progressivism. It's a sneaky little bitch that both sides, but especially the left, like to use when they know they cant just take something away outright.
So you see, people can say there should be laws to curb gasoline consumption, there should be laws about vehicle sizes and heights and weights, there should be laws about emissions, every car should get 35, 45, 55, 65, 75 mpg, and on and on. Then when it happens, the supporters of such things can be sly and say "we never said ban SUVs...tee hehe" when they know full and well that is what effectively happens in the long run.
Anyhow I don't like dems or reps. You have one side preaching Marxism saying "give us power and we will make everything fair" and you have the other side telling you should be scared of everything from terrorists to gays to kitten flu, but it's ok, "give us power and we'll protect you" /angry
My overall philosophy in life is simply life and let live. I don't really give a shit what someone else has or is doing as long as it doesn't DIRECTLY affect me. Driving on the same street as me with a lifted truck and actually running me over are two different things, and I'm not one to crusade to ruin it for everyone just because of an irresponsible dumb ass here and there. As for hurting only themselves, I couldn't care less.
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